MARTIN, Tenn. – No. 5-seeded Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (16-15) overcame #4 Eastern Illinois (16-16) in five sets (25-23, 27-25, 17-25, 26-28, 15-9) Thursday afternoon at Skyhawk Fieldhouse to clinch a spot in Friday's 2022 Ohio Valley Conference Championship Semifinals. 
 
Three Redhawks finished with double-digits attacking including a double-double of 15 kills and 12 blocks (career high) from graduate student Colby Greene. 
 
Greene, a rightside hitter from North Liberty, Iowa, tallied her first career double-double, hitting at a .419 rate. It marked the second-straight OVC Championship Tournament match against EIU that Greene posted 14 or more kills.

SEMO finished Thursday with a season-best 21 blocks. 
 
Kayla Closset led the Redhawks with a personal-best 18 kills, eight digs and four service aces (career-best matching) on a .342 rate. Zoey Beasley, a 2022 All-OVC First Team performer, chipped in 18 kills on a .364 with five blocks, three assists and three digs. 
 
SEMO will face top seed, host, and 2022 OVC Regular Season Champion, UT Martin, Friday at 6 p.m., CT in the Semifinals. 
 
Izzy Lukens registered a career-best 51 assists to go with 11 digs, two kills and two blocks as SEMO hit .293 over the Quarterfinal matchup. 
 
The Redhawks took the opening two sets Thursday before Eastern Illinois stormed back in the third and fourth frames to knot the match at 2-2.
 
SEMO hit an impressive match-best .471 in the fifth period to secure the win and advance to the Semifinals. 
 
The Redhawks jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the fifth set and increased the advantage to 8-2 off a kill from Ramiri Gardner. 
 
Closset added a pair of rally stoppers to make the margin 10-4. The Panthers came as close as 11-8 before SEMO wrapped the match on a 4-1 run (15-9). Beasley notched a winner, followed by a block assist with Gardner before a kill by Greene secured the win. 
 
Mackenzie Meehan finished Thursday with a career-best 10 blocks, seven kills, and a dig. Gardner added a personal-best 11 blocks, five kills and two digs. 
 
Tara Beilsmith, the 2022 OVC Defensive Player of the Year, grabbed 19 digs with seven assists. Addy McAleer had seven digs while Jenny Shook tallied six. 
 
Giovana Larregui Lopez, the 2022 OVC Player of the Year, had 20 kills, five aces, three blocks and six digs. Four Panthers finished in double-digits kill-wise. 
 
Catalina Rochaix posted 33 assists while 2022 All-OVC Players Kaitlyn Flynn (13 kills) and Christina Martinez Mundo each had 14 digs. 
 
SEMO hit a .240 in the first set and trailed 15-11 at the media stoppage. The Redhawks would cut the deficit to 15-14 before going on a 5-0 run to take a 19-18 lead. 
 
EIU would retake the advantage 23-21 before a 4-0 run (25-23) sealed the 1-0 lead for SEMO. Beasley had four kills on a .600 clip in set #1. 
 
The Redhawks then increased their lead to 2-0 with a 27-25 second stanza while batting .282.
 
A kill from Beasley followed by a block assist with Meehan made the second set, 23-21. Beasley added another winner for set point at 24-22. 
 
The Panthers would fend off set point twice to even the frame at 24-24 before a Meehan kill from the middle (25-24). 
 
EIU would tie it once more before a solo block by Meehan and a rally stopper by Closset (27-25). Closset had six kills in the second frame (.333) followed by five from Beasley. 
 
The Panthers then notched a match-high .480 hitting percentage in the third to cut the margin to 2-1. 
 
EIU opened with a 10-4 lead that grew to 16-8. SEMO would go on a 3-0 run to come within four (19-15).
 
The Panthers then took the set on a 5-1 rally (25-17). 
 
The fourth set featured 19 tie score lines and 10 lead changes as EIU evened the match at 2-2. 
 
SEMO hit .310 during the period while the Panthers hit .286.
 
EIU utilized a 6-0 run to pull ahead 23-17 before a kill from Larregui Lopez made it set point at 24-18. 
 
The Redhawks fought back and knotted the set at 24-24 on a 6-0 rally. Beasley and Greene each added kills to keep the set tied at 25-25 and then 26-26 before EIU took the set (28-26). 
 
EIU led the aces category, 11-4, while SEMO out blocked the Panthers, 21-13.
 
Beasley is now 10 kills away from 1,000 in her career (990) at SEMO which ranks fifth in SEMO program history (rally scoring era, 2008 to present).
 
Beilsmith has now surpassed 700 digs (714) in 2022 to increase her career total to 2,178 (45 from the record) which ranks second all-time in SEMO program history behind Molly Davis (2,223 digs from 2006-09).
 
SEMO will face top seed, host, and 2022 OVC Regular Season Champion, UT Martin, Friday at 6 p.m., CT in the Semifinals. 

The Redhawks will compete in the OVC Tournament Semifinals for the fourth-straight season Friday.