BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - Senior libero Tara Beilsmith was tabbed the Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week, the league announced Monday. 

Beilsmith led Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (8-8, 3-1 OVC) defensively with 56 total digs and nine assists as the Redhawks split their first OVC road series of the 2022 season at UT Martin Sept. 30-Oct. 1. She averaged 8.00 digs and 1.29 assists per set in Martin, Tennessee, this past weekend.

Beilsmith grabbed 31 digs with five assists and an ace in the opener with UTM on Sept. 30. It marked her second-straight 30 dig match and fourth of the season. 
 
She then wrapped the weekend road series with 25 digs, four assists, and an ace as the Redhawks swept UTM in the series finale on Oct. 1.
 
Beilsmith ranks first in the OVC and third overall in the nation with 5.85 digs per set in 2022. She is also second in the conference and fifth in the NCAA with 357 total digs. 
 
For Beilsmith, a Weldon Spring, Missouri, native, the OVC honor is her 10th career weekly laurel and ninth career Defensive Player of the Week. It's also her league-leading fourth OVC Defensive Player of the Week award in 2022.
 
The Redhawks next host Eastern Illinois Friday and Saturday before welcoming travel partner and OVC newcomer Little Rock to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for their home-and-home series opener with on Monday, Oct. 10.