CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (4-7) dropped a pair of four-set matches to commence the Saluki Invitational Friday at the Banterra Center. SEMO fell to Bellarmine (5-6), 25-15, 21-25, 23-25, 15-25, in the lunchtime matchup before dropping the night cap to tournament host Southern Illinois (7-4), 18-25, 20-25, 25-22, 19-25. 
 
Southeast Missouri 1, Bellarmine 3 (25-15, 21-25, 23-25, 15-25)
 
SEMO dropped its 2022 Saluki Invitational opener to Bellarmine, 1-3 (25-15, 21-25, 23-25, 15-25), Friday afternoon at the Banterra Center. 
 
Zoey Beasley led the Redhawks attack with 18 kills on a .410 hitting percentage with four digs and two blocks. 
 
Colby Greene added 10 kills, batting .280 with three blocks and two assists. 
 
SEMO jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the match that grew to 18-6 after a 9-0 rally. 
 
A kill from Avery Torrey coupled with a Kaelyn O'Brien service ace and Knights error put the edge at 22-8. 
 
Lexie Smith then claimed the opening set, 25-15, after a winner. 
 
SEMO hit a match high .342 in the opening set, paced by Beasley's six kills on a .385 rate. Greene chipped in four rally stoppers (.400). 
 
The Redhawks finished the match with .229.
 
Bellarmine in comparison, hit a match low .146 in the first stanza before finishing the contest with three-straight sets of .343 plus hitting to finish the day with a .299. 
 
SEMO once again started strong, jumping out to a 10-3 advantage in set #2.
 
Four-straight kills from Greene (2), Addy McAleer, and Ramiri Gardner pushed the lead to 16-9. 
 
Bellarmine then utilized a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to 16-13 and took a 20-18 advantage off a 6-0 rally. 
 
Bailey Venard knocked a kill for set point at 24-20. 
 
Beasley added a kill for the Redhawks before Venard evened the match at 1-1 (25-21) on her fourth rally stopper of the set. 
 
In the third frame, it was the Knights who started quickly, commencing with a 7-2 lead. 
 
The Redhawks answered with a 7-1 run to switch the lead to SEMO, 10-9. 
 
SEMO extended its margin to 17-14 on kills from Greene and Meehan that accompanied an Izzy Lukens ace, and a Meehan and Torrey block assist. 
 
Beasley converted consecutive kills for a 21-19 edge. She then added another rally stopper for a slight 22-21 lead. 
 
Beasley, a senior outside hitter from Paragould, Arkansas, notched seven kills during the third set on a .462 percentage. 
 
The Knights then secured the set on a 4-1 run (25-23) as the Redhawks came as close as 24-23. 
 
Bellarmine continued the pressure, grabbing a 10-2 lead to begin the fourth set. 
 
That advantage grew to 18-8 after an Emily Arnold ace and a Jayme Scott kill. 
 
Venard then notched a kill to wrap the match at 25-15.
 
Lukens dished out 20 assists with seven digs and three service aces. O'Brien added 16 assists and seven digs.
 
Tara Beilsmith grabbed 14 digs with five assists. McAleer chipped in six digs and three kills with two aces. 
 
Gardner finished with five kills and two digs in her fourth-straight start. 
 
Torrey led the Redhawks with five blocks followed by four from Smith. SEMO out blocked Bellarmine, 9-5. 
 
Scott led the Knights with 20 kills and nine digs. Arnold finished with 48 assists and Anna Lococo tallied 22 digs. 
 
Southeast Missouri 1, Southern Illinois 3 (18-25, 20-25, 25-22, 19-25)
 
The Redhawks had three attackers finish with double-digit kills in the evening meeting with border rival SIU. 
 
Beasley paced SEMO with 12 kills and five digs. 
 
O'Brien just missed a triple-double for the second time this season, finishing with a career best 11 kills and 12 digs with nine assists.
 
The redshirt junior setter who transferred to SEMO from Virginia Commonwealth notched her third double-double of the season Friday night. 
 
Closset also notched her third double-double in 2022, racking up 10 kills and 12 digs. It was her third double-digit kill outing of the year. 
 
Greene chipped in eight kills with five blocks and two digs.
 
The Redhawks began their match with SIU, earning an 8-3 lead. 
 
The Salukis then swapped the lead to 17-13 after a 10-2 run.
 
SIU brought on set point with three-straight points and claimed the first set, 25-18, on a Redhawk error. 
 
The Salukis then jumped out to a 7-2 edge in the second frame.
 
O'Brien slammed a pair of rally stoppers following an SIU error to cut the deficit to 18-16. 
 
The Salukis then secured the set on a 6-2 run (25-20). SIU hit a match-high .303 during the period.
 
Closset posted five kills during the second stanza on a .625 clip.
 
With their backs against the wall, the Redhawks registered a match-high .294 hitting percentage in set #3 to force a fourth frame.
 
The third stanza featured 13 ties and five lead changes. 
 
SEMO held an early 10-9 lead after a block from Meehan and Greene, followed by a Lukens ace and a rally stopper from O'Brien. 
 
The Redhawks went to the media stoppage with a 15-14 edge. 
 
A pair of Saluki errors coupled with a winner from Greene pushed the margin to 19-17. 
 
Beasley then slammed consecutive kills following an SIU miscue to make the score 23-20. 
 
Beasley then added two more kills to claim the set for the Redhawks, 25-22. She posted four kills during the third set on a .364 percentage. 

SEMO commenced the fourth set with a 6-4 lead that prompted a Saluki timeout. 
 
SIU then utilized a 5-0 run to distance itself from the Redhawks, 10-7. 
 
O'Brien and Smith connected on consecutive kills to cut the lead to 17-16. 
 
Ceci Bulmahn and Imani Hartfield (2) combined for three-straight SIU points to increase the gap to 20-16. 
 
The Salukis closed the match, scoring four of the final five points to secure the victory with a 25-19 set. 
 
Lukens handed out 23 assists with six digs and three aces.  
 
Beilsmith compiled 29 digs with a season-high seven assists. McAleer added four digs. 
 
Meehan notched four blocks and Smith had three. 
 
Hartfield led SIU with a match-high 13 kills while Nataly Garcia had 12 kills and 11 digs. Tatum Tornatta added 11 rally stoppers and six digs. 
 
Claudia Bobb posted 21 digs while Ceci Bulmahn (nine kills) and Annabelle Sulish each had 14. 
 
Anna Jaworski divvied out 48 assists and 11 digs. 
 
SIU outhit SEMO, .200 to .120. 
 
SEMO next closes the Saluki Invitational against Alabama A&M (1-12) Saturday at 11 a.m., CT at the Banterra Center.