CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (6-7, 1-0 OVC) captured a 3-0 sweep (26-24, 25-22, 25-22) of Tennessee State (6-9, 0-2 OVC) to open Ohio Valley Conference play Friday evening at Houck Field House. 
 
Kayla Closset led the SEMO offense with 10 kills, seven digs, three aces and two blocks. Kaelyn O'Brien just missed a triple-double, finishing with nine kills, 18 assists and 13 digs. 
 
Zoey Beasley added nine kills with three blocks and Ramiri Gardner posted seven kills with three blocks and two digs on a .429 clip. 
 
Beasley hit a kill to cut the early TSU advantage to 14-12 in the opening set. 
 
The Tigers then rallied off three-straight points to take a 20-14 lead. Closset then connected on back-to-back kills to trim the margin to 20-16. 
 
O'Brien hit a rally stopper before Gardner and Beasley combined for a block assist to make the score 22-20 TSU. 
 
The Redhawks finally pulled ahead after a 4-0 rally, 24-23. Following a Tigers miscue, Kalia Morris placed a service ace in the corner before a block assist by Gardner and Colby Greene followed by a Closset winner concluded the sequence.
 
TSU then reknotted the set at 24-24 before a kill from Greene and a Tigers attack error sealed the opening set for SEMO. 
 
O'Brien paced SEMO with six kills, eight digs, and four assists in the opening frame Friday.
 
The Tigers then jumped out to a 13-7 edge in the second set after a 6-0 rally. 
 
The Redhawks responded with a 7-0 run of their own for a 14-13 advantage. Tara Beilsmith registered a pair of service aces during the rally.
 
SEMO then widened the gap to 19-16 after three-straight points. O'Brien and Lexie Smith combined for a block before a Closset ace, and a TSU error. 
 
Gardner added a rally stopper followed by a Morris ace to push the lead to 23-19.
 
Closset then increased the Redhawks lead to 2-0 after a pair of kills, 25-22. 
 
Holding a slight 13-12 lead in the third set, SEMO rallied off five straight points to extend their edge to 18-12. 
 
Consecutive kills from Gardner then made the score 21-15. 
 
Smith added a kill before an Izzy Lukens ace to bring on match point at 24-18. 
 
The Tigers fended off match point with four-straight points before Closset wrapped the match at 25-22. 
 
Lukens added 17 assists, 10 digs and an ace for a double-double Friday.
 
Beilsmith led SEMO with 13 digs and three assists with a pair of aces. Morris grabbed a career-best seven digs to go along with three service aces. Addy McAleer chipped in five digs. 
 
Smith paced the defense with three blocks and three digs with an ace. 
 
Celestial Miller led TSU with 10 kills while Aleksandra Rojecka tallied nine kills, eight digs and four blocks. 
 
Login Williams dished out 18 assists with eight digs. 
 
Gina Rivera-Ortiz posted 21 digs and seven assists. 
 
SEMO led TSU, 10-1, in service aces. The Tigers out blocked the Redhawks, 13-7. 
 
TSU finished with a hitting percentage of .157 while SEMO concluded the match at .113.
 
The Redhawks conclude their OVC-opening series with Tennessee State Saturday evening at Houck Field House. First serve is 7 p.m., CT.