MARTIN, Tenn. – No. 5-seeded Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (17-15) upset top seed, host, and 2022 Ohio Valley Conference Regular-Season Champions, UT Martin (22-11), in five sets (13-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-22, 15-11) Friday evening at the Skyhawk Fieldhouse to secure a spot in Saturday's 2022 OVC Tournament Championship Finals.
 
SEMO, the 2021 OVC Tournament Champions, will compete for its third OVC Tournament title in four seasons Saturday at 7 p.m., CT. The Redhawks will face #6 Tennessee State who beat #7 Lindenwood in five sets in the first Semifinal Friday afternoon. 
 
Zoey Beasley (.288), a 2022 All-OVC First Teamer, and Kayla Closset (.326) each led the Redhawks with 21 kills. Closset added 14 digs to complement her career-best kills outing. 
 
With the performance, Beasley, a senior outside hitter from Paragould, Arkansas, surpassed 1,000 kills in her career (1,011) at SEMO which ranks fifth in SEMO program history (rally scoring era, 2008 to present).
 
Izzy Lukens passed out 45 assists with a career-best 20 digs, two kills, an ace, and a block. 
 
Tara Beilsmith, the 2022 OVC Defensive Player of the Year, grabbed a career-high 42 digs with 12 assists. She is now three digs (2,220) away from becoming SEMO's all-time career digs leader, currently ranking second all-time in SEMO program history behind Molly Davis (2,223 digs from 2006-09).
 
SEMO and UT Martin traded the first four sets before the decisive fifth frame. The Redhawks took an early 4-2 lead in set #5 after a pair of kills from Ramiri Gardner coupled with a Gardner and Beasley block assist and a Colby Greene rally stopper. 
 
Back-to-back winners from Beasley pushed the edge to 7-4. She had four kills in the fifth set on a .667 clip. Beasley added another to make the score 8-6 at the switch over. 
 
Mackenzie Meehan registered a kill before consecutive points by the Skyhawks knotted the set at 9-9. 
 
SEMO then went on a 3-0 run that featured kills by Closset (2) and Greene to make the lead 12-9.

Closset added her third winner of the stanza for a 13-10 advantage before a Beasley kill followed by a UTM miscue sealed the victory, 15-11. 
 
SEMO hit a match-best .345 in the fifth set Friday. 
 
The Skyhawks took the opening set 25-13 while hitting a match-high .367. 
 
SEMO then knotted the match at 1-1 with a 25-19 second period.
 
A pair of Skyhawk errors made the set 14-9 in favor of the Redhawks. SEMO then utilized a 3-0 run to pull ahead 19-13. Closset converted a kill before a Beasley and Greene block assist followed by a Closset ace. 
 
Meehan and Greene then combined for a block before SEMO claimed the set on a 4-1 run (25-19). 
 
Closset (.364) and Beasley (.357) each had five kills in set #2 as the Redhawks hit at a rate of .229. 
 
In the third set, the Skyhawks commenced with a 10-5 lead that grew to 15-7 after a 4-0 rally. 
 
UTM widened the gap to 20-10 before a 5-0 SEMO run punctuated by a Jenny Shook ace cut the deficit to 23-21. 
 
Beasley added a kill to keep SEMO within two (24-22) before the Skyhawks grabbed the set to take a 2-1 lead. 
 
Trailing in the match 2-1, the Redhawks registered a .333 fourth set. 
 
Kills from Meehan and Lukens made the early lead 8-4. The Skyhawks would cut the margin to 15-13 after a 4-0 run to prompt a SEMO timeout. 
 
Closset notched a kill before UTM tied the set at 16-16. 
 
SEMO then went on a 4-0 run for a 20-16 advantage. The Skyhawks would trim the lead to 20-19 before a 4-1 rally by the Redhawks brought on set point at 24-20. 
 
Beasley knocked consecutive kills and had eight during the fourth set Friday on a .667 margin. 
 
UTM fended off set point twice before another Beasley kill evened the match at 2-2 (25-22). 
 
Closset chipped in six kills in the fourth set. 
 
Meehan finished Friday with a personal-high nine kills, six blocks and two digs. Gardner added seven kills (.375) with a trio of blocks. 
 
Greene posted six blocks, five kills and three digs. 
 
Addy McAleer tallied 12 digs while Shook added four and two aces. 

Karen Scanlon led UTM with 15 kills and 14 digs while Logan Wallick had 13 kills. Haeleigh Paulino had 24 assists and 13 digs. Dylan Mott finished with 18 digs. 
 
UTM led SEMO in the aces category, 8-4, while the Redhawks out blocked the Skyhawks, 10-9. SEMO also had advantages in assists (62-48) and digs (99-79). 
 
The Redhawks will next face #6 Tennessee State in the 2022 OVC Championship Tournament Finals Saturday at Skyhawk Fieldhouse. First service is 7 p.m., CT.