OVC Matches #15 & #16
 
Southeast Missouri (12-2, 12-2 OVC)
vs. Murray State (5-9, 5-9 OVC)
Match Information
Date: Sunday, March 28, 2021
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Venue: Houck Field House
First Serve: 7 p.m., CT
All-Time Series: SEMO leads Murray State, 54-33
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
 
Southeast Missouri (12-2, 12-2 OVC)
vs. Murray State (5-9, 5-9 OVC)
Match Information
Date: Monday, March 29, 2021
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Venue: Houck Field House
First Serve: 2 p.m., CT
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: StatBroadcast

Media Coverage
Twitter: @SEMOvb
Media Guide
 
Redhawks Host Murray State for Senior Series Sunday and Monday at Houck Field House
Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (12-2, 12-2 OVC) will wrap up their 2020-21 regular season Sunday and Monday against Murray State (5-9, 5-9 OVC) at Houck Field House. Match times are set for 7 p.m., CT and 2 p.m. in the Sunday, Monday matchup with the Racers.
 
The Redhawks will recognize senior Maggie Adams on Senior Day Monday prior to the match. 

Follow the Redhawks
• Stats will be available for Sunday's and Monday's matches on GoSoutheast.com.
• Monday's match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
• @SEMOvb, the official Twitter page of Redhawks volleyball, will feature live in-game updates all season long.
 
Scouting the Racers
Murray State has fashioned a 5-9, 5-9 OVC record in 2020-21. The Racers most recently dropped a series against Tennessee Tech March 21-22 at Racer Arena in Murray, Kentucky.
 
Becca Fernandez picked up her league leading fourth OVC Honors, winning Co-Defensive Player of the Week on Wednesday, after collecting 57 digs over the two matches against Tennessee Tech.

Series History
SEMO leads the all-time series with Murray State, 54-33. The Redhawks won two of the three matchups in 2019 including the final meeting between the two institutions at the 2019 OVC Championship. Each team won a regular-season match in their opponent's building.
 
In the most recent meeting, the #2-seeded Redhawks outlasted #3 Murray State in a five-set thriller (25-20, 14-25, 25-22, 20-25, 21-19) on Nov. 22, 2019 at the Pete Mathews Coliseum in Jacksonville, Alabama, to advance to the 2019 Ohio Valley Conference Championship Final.
 
Mikayla Kuhlmann led the Redhawks attackers with 14 kills. Laney Malloy finished with a double-double of 13 kills and 12 digs. Maggie Adams added 10 kills with nine total blocks. Annie Wehrheim concluded the contest with eight kills. Claire Ochs directed the offense with 43 assists and 13 digs for the double-double outing. Tara Beilsmith paced the defense with 28 digs and two assists. Emily Boggetto tallied 12 digs and Ally Dion had nine.
 
Sister, Sister
Sophomore outside hitter Zoey Beasley will face-off against her sister Taylor Beasley in Sunday and Monday's series with Murray State. Taylor Beasley is a freshman outside hitter on the Racers and most recently posted consecutive double-digit kill matches against Tennessee Tech of 11 and 14 March 21-22.

About Last Week
SEMO (12-2, 12-2 OVC) captured the third seed in the 2020-21 Ohio Valley Conference Championship with its sixth regular-season series sweep March 21-22 at Eastern Illinois. SEMO extended its win streak to 12 after a pair of 3-0 sweeps (six in 2020-21) of the Panthers.
 
Laney Malloy led the Redhawks offense, registering 21 kills and 13 digs over the two matches. She opened the series with 12 kills and nine digs before finishing up the week with nine kills and four digs in the finale. Malloy also had two assists and three service aces over the two matches.
 
Malloy paces the conference with 205 total kills, 11.84 attacks per set and 592 total attacks. She is also second in the OVC with 230.5 total points and third in the league with 4.10 kills per set and 4.61 points per set.
 
Claire Ochs ran the Redhawks offense this past week, passing out 69 assists as the Redhawks hit at a pace of .271. Ochs registered 33 assists with seven digs in the opener before closing the series with 36 assists and 10 digs for the double-double in the finale. She also totaled six kills, three service aces and 17 digs over the two matches.
 
Ochs ranks third in the OVC with 10.34 assists per set with 517 total assists.
 
With the absence of Tara Beilsmith, senior libero Ally Dion led the Redhawks defense with 26 digs this past week. Dion posted 15 digs in the opener before concluding the week with 11. She also totaled four assists and three service aces over the two matches.
 
Dion leads the Redhawks in 2020-21 with 164 digs (3.28 digs/set). Beilsmith has posted 163 digs (4.53 digs/set, sixth in the OVC).
 
Addy McAleer posted 12 digs and four kills this past week. McAleer tallied nine digs and two kills in the opener before closing the series with four digs and two kills in the finale. She also had two service aces over the two matches.
 
Colby Greene finished the week with 20 kills (3.33 kills/set, .385 %) after a 13-kill series finale on March 22.
 
Talia Gouard registered a stellar .500 hitting clip with 19 total kills over the week behind a career-high 10 kills with two blocks on a .714 hitting clip in the series finale.

The Beas Knees
Sophomore Zoey Beasley matched a career-high 17 kills Feb 28 against SIUE, finishing with a .389 hitting clip, for her third-straight double-digit kill match.
 
She has registered double-digit kill matches in eight of the last nine SEMO matches. Beasley had 10 and 15 in the two matches against Austin Peay March 14-15 and most recently notched 12 in the opener at EIU on March 21.
 
Beasley is third on the team with 130 kills (2.83 kills/set).
 
Adams with the Block
Senior Maggie Adams is second in the OVC with 56.0 total blocks (1.12 blocks/set, third).

Talia Gouard is second on the team with 43.0 total blocks (0.86 blocks/set) and Colby Greene has posted 39.0 (0.78 blocks/set).
 
Offensively, Adams has posted 39 kills (0.78 kills/set) thus far.
 
Block Party!!
SEMO ranks fourth in the OVC with 106.0 total blocks (2.12 blocks/set, fourth).
 
SEMO ACE!!
SEMO ranks first in the conference with 93 total team aces this season and 1.86 aces per set.
 
Ally Dion paces the Redhawks with 21 aces, (0.42 aces per set), which puts her third in the league. Kayla Closset (0.38 aces/set, fifth in the OVC), Claire Ochs (0.32 aces/set) and Laney Malloy (0.32 aces/set) are tied for second on SEMO with 16. Tara Beilsmith has 10 (0.28 aces/set) and Izzy Lukens has nine (0.18 aces/set). 
 
2020-21 OVC Preseason Poll
Four Redhawks were featured on the 2020-21 Preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference team as the Redhawks were selected to finish first in the preseason poll. SEMO, the 2019 OVC Tournament Champions, earned 10 first place votes and 222 total votes in the predicted order of finish that was selected by OVC Head Volleyball Coaches and Sports Information Directors.
 
The Redhawks also had a league-best four players selected to the 2020-21 Preseason All-OVC volleyball team in middle blocker Maggie Adams, libero Tara Beilsmith, outside hitter Laney Malloy and setter Claire Ochs. All four were named to 2019 All-OVC Teams.
 
2019 OVC Tournament Champions
The #2-seeded Southeast Missouri women's volleyball team swept #4 Morehead State, 26-24, 25-19, 28-26, at the Pete Mathews Coliseum to capture the 2019 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Championship on Nov. 23, 2019. The title was the sixth for SEMO and first since 2006. With the victory, SEMO earned an automatic qualification to the 2019 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship where it faced #9-ranked Kentucky on Dec. 6, 2019.
 
SEMO also matched the 2000 Redhawks that totaled 23 wins (23-9, 16-0 OVC) with the victory on Nov. 23, 2019. Laney Malloy, Mikayla Kuhlmann and Claire Ochs were each named to the 2019 OVC All-Tournament Team. Ochs was selected as the tournament MVP. The trio is the first Redhawks awarded OVC All-Tournament Team honors since Colleen Yarber garnered the distinction in 2012.
 
Malloy led the Redhawks offense with 16 kills and 10 digs for the double-double on a .267. Kuhlmann chipped in 12 on a .417 hitting clip. Annie Wehrheim finished with seven kills (.300) and Maggie Adams had five kills and four total blocks. Ochs dished out 32 assists with eight digs and five kills. Tara Beilsmith led the SEMO defense with a match-high 18 digs.
 
SEMO concluded the 2019 campaign with a 23-11 record, finishing 12-4 in OVC play (second in the regular season).
 
Team Makeup
SEMO returns 12 players from the 2019 OVC Tournament Championship team. The 2020-21 Redhawks team features seven upperclassmen including Maggie Adams, Laney Malloy and Claire Ochs who were all starters and All-OVC performers in 2019. SEMO also returns its All-OVC libero in sophomore Tara Beilsmith.
 
There are also six newcomers on the 2020-21 squad including Radford sophomore transfer Mackenzie Meehan and freshmen Addy McAleer, Nwakaego Nwagbuo, Izzy Lukens, Lexie Smith and Kayla Closset.
 
Looking Ahead
SEMO will next compete at the 2020-21 OVC Championship held at the top seed in the conference April 1-2, 2021.