CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (7-7, 2-0 OVC) fought past Tennessee State, 3-2 (25-23, 21-25, 23-25, 25-17, 15-8) Saturday evening at Houck Field House to open their Ohio Valley Conference slate with a series sweep. 
 
Zoey Beasley led the Redhawks with 22 kills on a .286 clip with two blocks and four digs. The senior from Paragould, Arkansas, chipped in three kills in the fifth and final set Saturday.
 
Colby Greene added 10 kills (.286) with two blocks. Kayla Closset compiled nine kills with a career-high 25 digs to go with two assists. Ramiri Gardner finished with eight kills and two blocks while Kaelyn O'Brien tallied 24 assists, seven kills, and eight digs with two blocks. 
 
Trailing the match 2-1 with their backs against the wall, the Redhawks rallied for a 25-17 fourth frame before a dominating 15-8 decisive fifth set. 
 
SEMO and TSU were even at 5-5 early in the fourth set before a Closset winner provided the Redhawks a 12-8 edge.
 
A kill from Gardner followed by a Tigers attack error brought on the media break with the Redhawks leading 15-11. 
 
Closset added another kill followed by a Mackenzie Meehan block and an O'Brien tip kill to make the SEMO advantage 20-14. 
 
The Redhawks then closed the fourth frame on a 4-0 run (25-17) to even the match at 2-2. Beasley connected on consecutive kills before a block assist by O'Brien and Gardner coupled with a TSU error.
 
SEMO posted a .342 clip in the fourth set as Beasley posted five kills while hitting .455. Closset and Tara Beilsmith both scooped up seven digs in the frame. 
 
In the decisive fifth set, SEMO jumped out to a 3-0 lead after an Izzy Lukens service ace followed by a pair of block assists. 
 
Beasley added back-to-back kills to increase the lead to 6-2. She connected on her third rally stopper in four points before a pair of TSU errors made the scoreboard read 9-3. 
 
A Closset kill was bookended by two more Tigers miscues to double the SEMO advantage, 12-6. 
 
Greene then connected on a kill before a TSU attack error secured the match, 15-8. 
 
Tennessee State jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the opening set that grew to 10-5. 
 
A kill from Closset then cut the deficit to 12-10.
 
Gardner added a rally stopper to even the set at 14-14. Consecutive Tiger attack errors provided SEMO a slight 17-16 lead. 
 
O'Brien slammed a leftie kill to retie the frame at 21-21. Lexie Smith added a huge solo block for a 22-21 edge.
 
Beasley would chip in a kill before a Tigers error for set point at 24-23. Gardner then blasted a kill to claim the opening set, 25-23. 
 
SEMO notched a hitting percentage of .263 to open the match Saturday. Gardner had four kills on an .800 rate in the opening set while Beasley added three (.375). 
 
In the second set, TSU once again opened strong coming out with a 10-6 advantage. 
 
A solo block from Greene cut the margin to 11-8. The Tigers then took a 15-10 lead into the media stoppage.
 
Tennessee State then utilized a 3-0 run to widen the gap to 18-11. 
 
The Redhawks answered with a 4-0 run to trim the lead to 19-15. Beasley and Gardner combined for a block before a kill from Greene wrapped the sequence.
 
SEMO continued to chip away and came within one, 21-20, after a 3-0 rally. Beilsmith earned a service ace following a Greene kill and a TSU error. 
 
Greene added another kill to keep the edge at one, 22-21, before three straight points by the Tigers evened the match at 1-1. 
 
SEMO then went up 8-3 to commence the third period. Closset knocked a kill for a 10-8 edge. 
 
Gardner tallied a rally stopper to put the Redhawks up 15-13 at the media timeout. 
 
The Tigers then pulled the lead in their favor, 22-18, after a 6-0 run. 
 
SEMO then retied the stanza at 23-23 on consecutive kills from Addy McAleer and Closset following a TSU miscue. 
 
The Tigers then grabbed back-to-back points to increase their edge to 2-1 in the match. 
 
Lukens divied out 26 assists and 18 digs.
 
Beilsmith totaled 30 digs with five assists and an ace. It marked the third 30-plus dig outing of the season for the senior libero from Weldon Spring, Missouri. 
 
McAleer tallied 11 digs.
 
Meehan finished with two kills and three blocks.
 
SEMO outhit TSU, .161 to .106. The Tigers had their best set in the second (.239).
 
Celestial Miller led TSU with 15 kills while Johanna Alcantara added 14 and Kennedy Davis had 12. 
 
Sofia Garcia-Guerrios and Login Williams each had 22 assists, posting eight and nine digs, respectively. 

Gina Rivera-Ortiz tallied 33 digs with three aces and four assists. 
 
SEMO will next head to Martin, Tennessee, for a weekend series at UT Martin Sept. 30 to Oct. 1.