EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (11-10, 6-3 OVC) extended its win streak to three matches with a four-set decision (25-20, 23-25, 25-22, 25-11) over Southern Indiana (1-19, 1-8 OVC) Saturday at Screaming Eagles Arena.
With the win, SEMO claimed the regular-season sweep of USI.
Zoey Beasley led the Redhawks for the second-straight match, finishing with 13 kills, two digs and a block while hitting .313.
Kaelyn O'Brien registered her eighth double-double of the campaign, posting 11 kills (.296) with 19 assists, three blocks, and three digs.
Colby Greene (.368),
Mackenzie Meehan (PR, .467 with six blocks) and
Addy McAleer (.333 and 10 digs) each chipped in eight rally stoppers.
SEMO opened the match with a 7-3 lead. Beasley added a kill before a
Tara Beilsmith service ace to make the edge 14-7.
The Screaming Eagles then utilized a 6-1 run to cut the margin to 15-13.
Colby Greene posted a pair of rally stoppers to make the SEMO advantage 19-15. USI then responded with three-straight points to cut the lead to one, 19-18.
Rally stoppers from Beasley and O'Brien coupled with a Screaming Eagle miscue brought on set point at 24-19.
USI made another error as the Redhawks took the opening set, 25-20.
Beasley had five kills in the first frame on a .300 rate while O'Brien added four on a .500 clip.
The Screaming Eagles then evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-23 second stanza where they hit a match high .256. The Redhawks in comparison hit .135.
With set #2 knotted at 14-14, SEMO took an 18-14 lead after a 4-0 run that featured kills by
Kayla Closset and Greene.
USI then had a 4-0 rally to tie the set back up at 20-20.
A Southern Indiana ball handling error retied the set at 23-23 before the Screaming Eagles tied the match with consecutive kills, 25-23.
SEMO then jumped out to a 4-1 edge that grew to 7-2 and prompted a USI timeout in the third stanza.
O'Brien added a kill for a 10-6 lead.
SEMO then gained some breathing room with a 5-0 run to extend the advantage to 19-12. Meehan posted a pair of kills during the sequence before teaming up with Beasley for a block assist.
Beasley then connected on a trio of rally stoppers to make the scoreboard read 22-16.
Greene and McAleer both added kills for set point at 24-19. USI fended off set point three times before an O'Brien winner, 25-22.
McAleer tallied five kills with five digs on a .308 percentage in set #3.
SEMO then sealed the match with a dominating fourth period where the Redhawks hit .520.
The Redhawks went up 6-1 that increased to 8-3 which prompted a Screaming Eagles timeout.
A 5-0 SEMO run widened the gap to 14-5 as USI burned its second timeout of the set. Beasley and Greene each had kills while Closset registered an ace.
SEMO then claimed the match, 25-11, scoring seven of the eight final points. Beasley (2) and O'Brien combined for three kills to grab the victory.
Beasley had four kills on a .667 in the frame while McAleer (.375) and O'Brien (.750) each added three.
Izzy Lukens compiled 24 assists and 16 digs as the Redhawk hit .284 Saturday. USI in comparison finished with a hitting percentage of .163.
Beilsmith, the back-to-back OVC Defensive Player of the Week, totaled a match high 22 digs with five assists and an assist. It marked her 14th 20-plus dig performance of the season and seventh in the last eight matches.
Closset grabbed nine digs with two kills, a block, and an ace.
Leah Anderson led USI with 14 kills and 13 digs. Abby Bednar chipped in 12 kills.
Carly Sobieralski finished with 27 assists and 11 digs. Keira Moore and Abby Weber each had 13 digs.
SEMO next wraps their home-and-home series with travel partner Little Rock Tuesday at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock, Arkansas.