CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (4-5) wrapped up its stay at the 2022 Northern Iowa (UNI) Tournament with a four-set (25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 25-18) victory over Western Michigan (5-4) Saturday evening at the McLeod Center. The Redhawks opened the second day of the Tournament with a 14-25, 20-25, 24-26 loss to host Northern Iowa (3-5) Saturday afternoon and finished the non-conference tourney with a 1-2 record.
Tara Beilsmith, the reigning back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week, was named to the UNI All-Tournament Team after she totaled 89 digs (7.42 digs/set) with 14 assists (1.17 assists/set) over the two-day tournament. The senior libero from Weldon Spring, Missouri, committed just one reception error over SEMO's three matches.
The All-Tournament honor was her second of the season and fifth in her career.
SEMO 0, UNI 3 (14-25, 20-25, 24-26)
SEMO dropped its Saturday afternoon UNI Tournament opener to host Northern Iowa in three sets.
Colby Greene led the Redhawks with 12 kills on a .310 clip.
Zoey Beasley added seven rally stoppers with two digs and two blocks.
The Panthers opened the match with an 8-1 advantage which SEMO trimmed to 12-8 after a pair of UNI errors followed by a
Lexie Smith ace.
Beasley then knocked consecutive kills to pull the Redhawks within three, 14-11.
UNI utilized a 6-0 run to increase its lead to 20-11 and capped the set with consecutive kills by Olivia Tjernagel and Kaylissa Arndorfer, 25-14.
Tied at 8-8, the Panthers went on a 3-0 rally to distance themselves from SEMO, 11-8, in the second set. UNI then went to the media stoppage leading 15-12.
SEMO then cut the deficit to 18-17 after a pair of Panthers miscues.
Greene chipped in a pair of kills to keep the edge at two (21-19 and 22-20) before back-to-back winners from Arndorfer followed by a Baylee Petersen ace sealed the set for UNI (25-20).
The second set had eight ties before 10 in the third frame.
SEMO hit .229 in the final set while the Panthers had a rate of .259 and finished the day with .290.
Northern Iowa commenced the third period leading 6-2. SEMO then evened the set at 9-9 after three-straight kills from Greene, a North Liberty, Iowa, native.
Beasley and
Ramiri Gardner notched kills to bookend a UNI error to provide the Redhawks a 16-13 edge.
The Panthers then knotted the set back up at 16-16.
Kaelyn O'Brien placed a kill to cap a 3-0 run to make the SEMO advantage 22-18.
Tyler Alden registered a pair of kills along with a Sydney Petersen service ace to cut the margin to 22-21 Redhawks.
Smith added a kill to bring the score to 23-21 before a Beasley winner made it set point at 24-23.
The Panthers then rattled off three-straight points to grab the match, 26-24.
Izzy Lukens dished out 21 assists with four digs.
O'Brien added eight assists, seven digs, one kill, and an ace.
Beilsmith grabbed 20 digs.
Addy McAleer had seven digs with four kills and
Kayla Closset finished with five digs.
Smith led the Redhawks with three block assists to go with three kills and two digs.
Avery Torrey chipped in two blocks and three digs.
SEMO hit .158 over the match.
Emily Holterhaus paced UNI with 16 kills while Arndorfer had 11.
Alden notched a triple-double of 11 kills, 34 assists and 10 digs.
Four Panthers notched double-digit kills led by Sydney Petersen and Fallert who each had 12. Baylee Petersen added 10 digs.
SEMO 3, Western Michigan 1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 25-18)
Southeast Missouri bounced back in their UNI Tournament finale edging Western Michigan in four sets for the Redhawks first win at the two-day tournament.
Beasley paced SEMO in the night cap with 12 kills on a .303 clip including five in the second set.
Greene and McAleer both notched nine kills. McAleer added seven digs and four blocks.
O'Brien, a lefthanded setter from Woodbridge, Virginia, was two kills shy of a triple-double, finishing with a career-best outing of 23 assists, 10 digs and eight kills with three service aces. The double-double was the second in her career as a Redhawk.
SEMO and Western Michigan competed in a tight match that saw 33 ties and 14 lead changes over the four sets.
Smith hit a kill for a slight 15-13 edge at the media timeout in the opening set.
The Broncos responded with a 5-1 run to take a 20-18 advantage.
The Redhawks then utilized a 6-0 run to bring on set point, 24-20. WMU fended off set point twice before committing an error to give SEMO the first set, 25-22.
The Broncos evened the contest at 1-1 with a 25-21 second stanza. They jumped out to a 7-4 edge that SEMO knotted at 15-15 and then 16-16.
WMU went on a 6-0 rally to widen the gap to 22-16.
SEMO came as close as 23-21 after a 5-1 swing capped by a block assist by McAleer and Gardner before the Broncos notched consecutive points to take the set.
SEMO then hit a match high .310 in the third set to recapture the lead in the match (2-1). The Broncos notched a rate of .283 in set #3.
O'Brien took over in the third set, compiling six kills, five assists, three aces and two digs for 9.0 points.
Gardner notched a kill before teaming up with McAleer and Greene for consecutive block assists to double the SEMO lead in the third set, 14-7.
Beasley then belted a kill to make the edge 18-13.
O'Brien added a winner before a pair of service aces to extend the SEMO margin to 21-14.
The Broncos then trimmed the margin to 21-20 after a 6-0 run.
McAleer and Smith both added kills for set point, 24-22. SEMO then secured the set, 25-23, after a WMU error.
The fourth set featured tie score lines of 8-8, 9-9 and 10-10 early before Lukens called her own number with a setter dump followed by a Greene kill for a 15-12 SEMO lead.
The Redhawks then widened the gap with a 7-0 rally to pull ahead 22-13. Closset capped the sequence with three straight service aces.
The junior outside hitter from Naperville, Illinois, finished with three aces to go with 13 digs.
Smith posted a kill for match point, 24-15, as the Broncos came as close as 24-18. She then chipped in her eighth kill of the evening to seal the win for SEMO (25-18), hitting at a .375 clip with three blocks.
Lukens compiled 18 assists with nine digs and a kill.
Beilsmith registered a season best 36 digs with six assists. It was her second 30-plus dig outing in 2022.
Gardner led the SEMO defense with a career best six blocks and four kills followed by Greene (five blocks).
The Redhawks out blocked WMU, 11-5, and held an aces advantage of 9-4 (season best).
SEMO outhit the Broncos, .220 to .186.
Maggie King led Western Michigan with 16 kills while Logan Case had 47 assists and 16 digs. Andelyn Simkins and Reeghan Boyer each had 20 digs.
The Redhawks next head to border rival Southern Illinois for the 2022 Saluki Invitational Sept. 16-17. SEMO will face Bellarmine and Southern Illinois in the opening day (Friday, Sept. 16) at 10 a.m., CT and 7 p.m. before closing the tournament against Alabama A&M Saturday, Sept. 17 at 11 a.m.