PEORIA, Ill. – Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (1-0) fought past DePaul (0-1), 3-1 (28-26, 19-25, 25-22, 25-23), Friday afternoon at the Renaissance Coliseum for the Redhawks first victory of the 2021 campaign.
 
Three Redhawks finished with double-doubles in SEMO's first match at Bradley's CEFCU Invitational. Zoey Beasley paced the Redhawks with a career best 20 kills, 10 digs and four blocks for her first career double-double. Laney Malloy chipped in 16 digs, 10 kills, five assists and three blocks. Claire Ochs dished out 48 assists with 20 digs and six kills in the season opener.
 
Colby Greene was second on the Redhawks offensively with 17 kills and three blocks on a .245 clip.
 
SEMO won the first set, 28-26, hitting at a rate of .224.
 
Malloy notched a kill to provide the Redhawks a 12-9 lead before the Blue Demons tied it at 14-14 in the opening frame.
 
Beasley keyed a 3-0 run for SEMO to pull the lead back in favor of the Redhawks, 17-14. Beasley had a pair of kills during the rally and finished the opening set with a team-high six.
 
Malloy added a rally stopper before Tara Beilsmith placed a service ace to regrow the SEMO edge to 22-17 and prompt a DePaul timeout.
 
Out of the break, the Blue Demons responded with a 3-0 run to pull within two (22-20).
 
Kills from Greene coupled with a DePaul attack error then brought on set point at 24-21.
 
The Blue Demons didn't go quietly in the opening set, knotting the frame at 24-24, 25-25 and 26-26.
 
Beasley then blasted a kill before a DePaul error as the Redhawks grabbed the opening set, 28-26.
 
DePaul evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-19 second set. The Blue Demons utilized a 3-1 run to take a 17-13 lead and distance themselves from SEMO.
 
Beasley knocked a kill to cut into the DePaul advantage, 21-18, before the Blue Demons secured the set with a kill from Emma Price.
 
DePaul hit a match-best .234 clip in the second frame.
 
SEMO then closed out the match with third and fourth set wins. The Redhawks jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the third stanza and built that advantage to 18-15 after consecutive kills from Malloy and Beasley.
 
Ochs added another kill before a 4-0 run by the Blue Demons flipped the score in favor of DePaul, 20-19.
 
Beasley knotted the frame at 20-20 with a rally stopper and Elissa Moylan chipped in a kill to make the scoreboard read 21-20. Beasley compiled six kills in the third set.
 
SEMO and DePaul then exchanged kills to retie the set at 22-22.
 
The Redhawks rallied off three straight points to claim the third set, 25-22. Malloy blasted a kill before a solo block from Talia Gouard and a block assist by Gouard and Malloy.
 
Friday's season opener between SEMO and DePaul was a tightly contested match that featured 34 ties and 17 lead changes.
 
The fourth set alone had 15 ties and 10 lead changes.
 
SEMO hit the 10-point plateau first and went on a 4-0 run for an early 12-9 advantage in the fourth stanza.
 
Moylan slammed a kill before teaming up with fellow Iowan, Greene, for a block assist for a slight 18-17 lead.
 
Moylan finished with a career-best six blocks along with three kills and a dig. She made her first start at middle blocker since the 2018 season (Nov. 10 at Jacksonville State).
 
Kayla Closset then hit an ace after a kill from Beasley for a 20-19 lead. Donna Brown evened the set at 22-22 with a rally stopper before consecutive kills from Greene and Malloy.
 
Greene had seven kills in the final set on a stellar .400 hitting percentage.
 
SEMO clinched the match with a kill by Gouard after a Redhawks error, 25-23.
 
Gouard finished with a balanced outing of five kills and five digs to go along with a career-best matching seven blocks.
 
SEMO out blocked the Blue Demons, 13-9.
 
Beilsmith paced the SEMO defense on her birthday with 29 digs. For Beilsmith, it was her first match back since March 8, 2021, after missing the rest of the 2020-21 season with an injury.
 
Ally Dion chipped in 11 digs and an assist.
 
Freshman Megan Harris made her SEMO debut in the third set. She finished with a dig.
 
Jill Pressly led DePaul with 18 kills. Ashley Cudiamat tallied 21 assists and Rachel Krasowski paced the team defensively with 38 digs.
 
Thursday's win is SEMO's first in a season opener since a 3-0 sweep of Southern (Louisiana) to open 2018.  It was also the Redhawks' first-ever win over DePaul after going winless in the past five meetings.
 
SEMO concludes the CEFCU Invitational Saturday against tournament host, Bradley, and Central Michigan. Saturday's match times are set for 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. The Bradley match will be streamed live on ESPN+.