LEXINGTON, Ky. – Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (26-8), the 2021 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and Regular-Season Champions, wrapped up its historic campaign with a 25-15, 25-14, 25-19 loss to #7 Kentucky (25-4), the 2020 NCAA National Champions, Friday evening in the opening round of the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship at Memorial Coliseum.
 
The Redhawks 26 wins in 2021 are the highest win total since the 1999 season when Southeast Missouri notched a 28-6 overall mark.
 
Laney Malloy, the 2021 OVC Player of the Year, and Zoey Beasley, a 2021 All-OVC First Team selection, each led the Redhawks with nine kills each.
 
Malloy also had four digs, two solo blocks and an assist.

Claire Ochs, the 2021 OVC Setter of the Year and OVC Tournament MVP, passed out 25 assists with five digs Friday.
 
Tara Beilsmith, a 2021 All-OVC honoree, grabbed 10 digs.
 
Down 2-0, SEMO fought tough in the 25-19 third frame.
 
Malloy and Colby Greene, a 2021 All-OVC Tournament Team player, hit consecutive kills before a service ace by Kayla Closset provided SEMO a 6-5 edge.
  
Greene finished Friday with seven kills on a .294 clip. 

Closset tallied four digs.
 
Greene and Talia Gouard each added rally stoppers to push the Redhawks advantage to 9-8 and 10-9.
 
The Wildcats utilized a 7-1 rally to take an 18-12 lead.
 
The Redhawks then cut the deficit to 18-16 after a kill by Beasley followed by three consecutive UK errors, which prompted a Kentucky timeout.
 
Malloy then hit a kill after a Wildcats error to make the score 22-19.
 
Kentucky grabbed the victory with three straight points, 25-19.
 
SEMO opened the contest with a match-high .276. Malloy and Beasley each had four kills in the opening set
 
The Redhawks went to the media stoppage in the first stanza trailing 15-10.
 
Beasley knocked consecutive kills to make the scoreboard read 17-13.
 
Greene added another kill to cut the lead to 20-15 before Kentucky closed the set on a 5-0 run.
 
The Wildcats hit stellar clips of .571 in both the first and second sets.

Green knocked a kill to make the second set 13-7 Kentucky.
 
Malloy and Beasley then connected on consecutive kills to make the score 18-10.
 
Gouard and Greene each added kills to bring SEMO within 22-13.
 
The Wildcats grabbed the second set with a 3-1 run, 25-14.
 
Madi Skinner led Kentucky with 13 kills on a .524 while Alli Stumler, the 2021 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, added 11 with a .400 hitting percentage. Bella Bell added seven kills with seven blocks on a .700 mark.
 
Emma Grome, the 2021 SEC Freshman of the Year, finished with 45 assists and Eleanor Beavin, the 2021 SEC Libero of the Year, notched 15 digs.
 
Nine Redhawks on the current 2021 team have captured three OVC titles (two tournament, one regular-season).