PEORIA, Ill. – Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (3-0) captured Bradley's 2021 CEFCU Invitational Championship with a pair of victories over tournament host, Bradley (0-2), and Central Michigan (1-2) Saturday afternoon at the Renaissance Coliseum. SEMO beat Bradley in four sets (25-18, 25-17, 26-24, 25-14) before sweeping CMU, 26-24, 25-22, 25-22, to conclude the two-day Invitational.
 
Saturday's tournament championship is SEMO's first since the 2019 Beale Street Challenge held at Memphis Sept. 20-21.

The Redhawks beat DePaul in four sets to open the CEFCU Invitational on Friday in SEMO's first victory over a BIG EAST institution since 2012 (South Florida, 9/7).
 
Laney Malloy, Claire Ochs and Tara Beilsmith were named to the 2021 CEFCU Invitational All-Tournament Team. Malloy was named the tournament MVP.
 
For Malloy, it was her fifth career all-tournament team and first MVP honor. Ochs was also named to her fifth career all-tournament team while it was Beilsmith's second laurel in her career at SEMO.
 
Malloy led the SEMO offense with 42 kills, 33 digs, 12 blocks and seven assists. Ochs dished out 123 assists with 46 digs, 12 kills, three blocks and two aces. Beilsmith compiled 84 digs with five assists and two aces. Ochs (3) and Malloy (2) combined for five double-doubles.
 
SEMO 3, Bradley 1
 
SEMO opened Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 (25-18, 25-17, 26-24, 25-14) victory over CEFCU Invitational tournament host, Bradley.
 
Malloy led the Redhawks with 15 kills, seven digs, four blocks, three aces and two assists. Talia Gouard chipped in 13 kills with a career-best eight total blocks on a .500 hitting percentage.
 
SEMO out blocked Bradley, 17-7, as six Redhawks tallied a block.
 
A day after notching 48 assists, setter Ochs posted 44 in Saturday's afternoon opener. She also tallied a double-double with 12 digs, three kills and two assists.
 
The Redhawks opened the match with an early 5-1 lead that evaporated with five-straight points by the Braves.
 
Kills from Zoey Beasley who registered her first double-double on Friday along with a service ace from Gouard provided the Redhawks a 13-8 lead.
 
Bradley then cut the SEMO edge to one, 13-12, after a timeout. A solo block from Malloy pushed the advantage back to 18-15.
 
SEMO closed the set on a 7-2 run to take set #1, 25-18. Gouard had five kills in the opening set as the Redhawks tallied five blocks as a team.
 
SEMO hit a match-high .290 in the second set to extend its advantage to 2-0 after a 25-17 stanza.
 
The Redhawks commenced the frame with a 7-4 lead that grew to 13-8 after a kill from Malloy.
 
Gouard teamed up with Colby Greene for a block assist before slamming a kill to send the Redhawks to a media timeout with a 15-9 edge.
 
Elissa Moylan then joined Ochs for a block assist to make the score 18-13.
 
Moylan finished the match with five kills and five blocks in her second-straight start.
 
It was all SEMO down the stretch. Abby Johnson cut the SEMO lead to 19-16 with a kill before a 6-1 Redhawks rally concluded the frame.
 
Greene and Ochs connected with consecutive kills to secure the second set, 25-17.
 
Greene finished with eight kills, six digs and four blocks.
 
Bradley responded with a 26-24 third frame to force a fourth set. The Braves posted a .234 hitting clip in the set.
 
The Braves utilized a 4-0 run to pull ahead 10-7 and went into the media timeout with a 15-14 edge.
 
A 4-1 rally from the Redhawks evened the set at 19-19. Malloy had a pair of kills during the run along with a block assist with Gouard.
 
Malloy then placed a service ace for a 21-20 SEMO advantage before four-straight points by the Braves brought on set point.
 
SEMO fended off set point with consecutive kills by Beasley along with a solo block by the Paragould, Arkansas, junior.
 
Beasley concluded the Bradley tilt with nine kills, four blocks and 12 digs.
 
Bradley then claimed the set with a kill by Hannah Thompson followed by a Redhawks attack error, 26-24.
 
SEMO responded from the setback with a dominating 25-14 fourth set.
 
The Redhawks jumped out to a 7-2 lead after a 4-0 run. Malloy had two kills and a block during the sequence while Gouard added a block.
 
The advantage grew to 17-9 after back-to-back kills from Beasley and Greene.
 
Thompson and Karagan Coggin both added kills for Bradley to cut the deficit to six (19-13) before the Redhawks concluded the match on a 6-1 rally.
 
Beilsmith paced the defense with 21 digs, two assists and an ace. Ally Dion added 16 digs. Kayla Closset chipped in eight.
 
SEMO outscored the Braves, 76-56, and led the aces category, 6-1.
 
Coggin and Thompson paced Bradley with 12 kills. Carlee Camlin dished out 28 assists. Serena Sparks posted a team-best 17 digs.
 
SEMO 3, Central Michigan 0
 
SEMO registered its first sweep (26-24, 25-22, 25-22) of the 2021 season in the late afternoon set against Central Michigan.
 
Malloy led the offense with 17 kills with 10 digs while Beasley added 11 kills. Ochs also finished with a double-double of 31 assists and 14 digs.
 
Trailing 4-1 in the opening set, SEMO knotted the score at 5-5 before the Chippewas pulled ahead 15-9.
 
The Redhawks continued to chip away at the deficit and came within two points (20-18) after a kill from Beasley. Beasley tallied five kills on a .500 clip in the first set.
 
Consecutive kills from Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez and Savannah Thompson coupled with a service ace by Lacey Juengel regrew the CMU lead to 23-18.
 
SEMO responded with a 4-0 run to cut the advantage to 23-22. Greene knocked a kill before consecutive aces by Ochs.
 
A Redhawks error brought on set point at 24-22 that the Redhawks fended off with four straight points to claim the set. Beasley opened the sequence with a rally stopper before a block assist from Malloy and Moylan.
 
The Chips committed back-to-back errors to provide SEMO the opening set win, 26-24.
 
SEMO once again had to play catch-up in the second set, falling behind 16-10 before mounting a comeback.
 
After a Redhawks timeout, SEMO cut the advantage to two (16-14) after a 4-0 rally.
 
Trailing 17-14, the Redhawks took control of the set and pulled ahead, 19-17, with a 5-0 run. Malloy hit three consecutive kills during the rally and finished the frame with nine.
 
Gouard added a rally stopper to make the score reflect 23-19 before a Chips service error made it set point at 24-20.
 
Beasley blasted a kill after consecutive kills by CMU to claim the set, 25-22.
 
The third stanza was highly contested with 12 ties and five lead changes. SEMO hit a match-high .200 during the set.
 
The Redhawks and CMU exchanged points with tie score lines of 12-12, 13-13, 14-14 and 15-15.
 
A 4-0 rally by SEMO distanced themselves from the Chippewas, 18-15.
 
Moylan and Greene combined for a block assist for a 20-17 advantage.
 
Malloy then chipped in a kill followed by a block with Gouard to push the lead to 22-19.
 
Gouard added a kill after a CMU error to bring on match point at 24-20.
 
Malloy then hit her fifth kill of the set to claim SEMO's first sweep of the 2021 campaign, 25-22.
 
Ochs passed out 31 assists in the match with 14 digs and two aces.
 
Moylan paced the Redhawks with six blocks and averaged just over five in her three matches at the CEFCU Invitational.
 
Beilsmith notched a career-best 34 digs with two assists. Dion added seven digs with an assist and Closset posted five digs.
 
Thompson led CMU with 12 kills and 13 digs followed by Linnea Willer (8 kills). Grace Butler had 19 assists and Kamryn Olson finished with 13. Aly Gurtiza accumulated 21 digs.
 
CMU led the aces category, 5-2. SEMO out blocked the Chippewas, 10-6.
 
Looking Ahead
After the CEFCU Invitational, the Redhawks will travel to Kalamazoo, Michigan, to compete in Western Michigan's Discover Kalamazoo Classic, Sept. 3-4. SEMO will take on WMU, Purdue Fort Wayne and Indiana at the tournament. The Redhawks open the Classic against host, Western Michigan, Sept. 3 at 11 a.m. at the University Arena.