CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's volleyball opened its 2021 season with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-18) exhibition victory over Missouri Baptist, the 2021 NAIA National Champions, Thursday afternoon at Houck Field House.
SEMO bounced back from an opening frame setback to claim the win.
Laney Malloy led the Redhawks in the exhibition with 13 kills and 10 digs while also compiling two assists, two aces and two block assists.
Talia Gouard chipped in 11 kills to accompany five blocks.
Zoey Beasley tallied a balance outing of eight kills and five digs while
Colby Greene chipped in seven kills.
Claire Ochs ran the offense with a match-high 37 assists with six kills, four digs and four blocks. Sophomore
Izzy Lukens added five assists.
Libero
Tara Beilsmith paced the SEMO defense with 23 digs and three aces.
Ally Dion registered 14 digs with a pair of aces.
Nwakaego Nwagbuo,
Mackenzie Meehan and
Megan Harris made their Redhawk exhibition debuts Thursday.
Nwagbuo, a sophomore from Tampa, Florida, was perfect on all four of her swings for four kills.
Harris, a freshman defensive specialist from Nesbit, Mississippi, had two digs, coming off the bench as a substitute.
Meehan, a junior from Crofton, Maryland, played in her first match as a Redhawk after sitting out the 2020-21 season after transferring from Radford. She notched a kill and a block over a set.
Giovanna Tapigliani led the Spartans offensively with 15 kills and nine digs. Manuela Vargas finished with 22 assists and 10 digs for the double-double. Libero Ariana Macies tallied 14 digs.
SEMO concluded the match with a .179 hitting clip and continued to improve each set after the opening one.
The Redhawks held a slight 9-8 advantage in aces and blocks on Missouri Baptist.
With the win, SEMO is now 3-0 against the Spartans in exhibition play.
SEMO opens its 2021 regular season at Bradley's CEFCU Invitational Aug. 27-28. The Redhawks will face DePaul to commence the season on Friday, Aug. 27 and take on host, Bradley, and Central Michigan on Saturday, Aug. 28.
The Redhawks will face Marshall in their regular-season home opener Sept. 10 at 10:30 a.m. to open the SEMO Invitational.
