Match #18 & #19
Southeast Missouri (13-4, 5-1 OVC)         
vs. Tennessee State (2-13, 2-3 OVC) 
Match Information
Date: Friday, Oct. 13 & Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023
First Serve: 6:00 p.m. | 12:00 p.m. 
Location: Nashville, Tenn.
Venue: Kean Hall
All-Time Series: SEMO leads Tennessee State 46-10
Last Meetings: OVC Tournament Final (L, 2-3, Nov. 19, 2022)
Live Stats: Match 1 | Match 2
Watch: Match 1 | Match 2
 
Volleyball Heads to the Music City to Face Tennessee State Friday & Saturday
Southeast Missouri volleyball (13-4, 5-1 OVC) will be on the road this weekend as they travel to Nashville, Tenn. to take on Tennessee State (2-13, 2-3 OVC) as Ohio Valley Conference play moves along. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. on Friday and 12 p.m. on Saturday at Kean Hall in the Music City. 
 
Series History
The weekend series with TSU will mark the first time these two universities have faced one another since the 2022 Ohio Valley Conference Championship match in Martin, Tenn. The Redhawks lost in heartbreaking fashion, 2-3, in the championship match after making an improbable run to the conference's title showdown. 
 
However, SEMO has dominated the overall series history and in the 57^th & 58^th meeting the Redhawks will enter with a 46-10 advantage over the Tigers. 
 
Last season, the Redhawks swept the Tigers in the regular season by winning 6-2 (3-0, 3-2) over two matches in Cape Girardeau, Mo. 
 
200^th Win
Sitting at win number 198, Head Coach Julie Yankus needed just two wins to reach the 200^th career win milestone as the SEMO head coach. The Redhawks pummeled UT Martin last weekend with back-to-back sweeps to record Yankus' 200^th career win in front of a raucous Houck Field House. 
 
In her 13 years as SEMO's head coach, Coach Yankus has taken her teams to the OVC tournament 11-out-of-12 seasons. During that time, she has mentored 22 All-OVC selections, two OVC All-Newcomer Team selections, and nine all-OVC Tournament Team Honorees. 
 
The Redhawks have secured three OVC titles in the last three seasons including the regular season and tournament titles in 2021.  
 
Tara Inches Closer
Libero Tara Beilsmith recorded 36 digs over last weekend's UTM series. The Weldon Spring, Mo.-native now sits at 2,642 career digs and needs just 20 more to break the OVC career record in digs set by TSU's Gina Rivera-Ortiz. 
 
OVC Stats
Looking through the conference statistics, here is how the Redhawks matchup with the rest of the OVC: 
 
-Marisa Guisti leads the conference in hitting-percentage with a .362-clip
 
-Setter Izzy Lukens is second in the OVC in assists with a 9.81 average-per-set and 579 total assists. She trails Catalina Rochaix of EIU (613). 
 
-Freshman Lucy Arndt is fifth in the conference in kills. Arndt has 217 on the season for a 3.34 average-per-set. 
 
-Nina Schuberth, from Yorkville, Ill., is third in the conference in service aces. Coming off the bench most of the time, Schuberth has recorded 28 service aces on the season (0.62 per-game).
 
-Tara Beilsmith leads the conference in digs. The graduate student sits at 386 digs on the season, a 5.94 average per set and leads second place by 39 digs. 
 
Last Time Out
Last weekend, SEMO hosted UT Martin at Houck Field House in a pair of matches that saw the Redhawks sweep the Skyhawks both times to improve to 5-1 in the OVC. 
 
In Saturday's match, Marisa Guisti led the Redhawks with 12 total kills and finished with a staggering .667 attacking percentage. 
 
SEMO won the match 25-20, 25-17, & 25-23 to pick up their fourth sweep of the OVC season in front of 200 people inside Houck Field House on Saturday afternoon. 
 
As a team, SEMO finished with a .254 hitting-percentage thanks in large part to setter Izzy Lukens dishing out 35 assists on 82 total attempts (.427). Lukens finished with a pair of kills in the match as well. 
 
Libero Tara Beilsmith, approaching the OVC career record in digs, finished with 18 digs on the afternoon and is now just 20 away from the record (2,662). 
 
Freshman Lucy Arndt was all over the stat sheet in the contest, finishing with 11 kills, 13 digs, and a pair of solo blocks. Arndt registered a .219 hitting-percentage over the three-set match. 
 
As a team, SEMO finished with seven blocks, led by Arndt with two solo blocks and a block assist. Graduate student middle blocker Talia Gouard finished with four block assists to lead the Redhawks in the category.
 
Friday night's match was much of the same only this time, SEMO was led by freshman outside hitter Lucy Arndt. Arndt finished with 13 kills and a .333 hitting-percentage. 
 
The reigning OVC Freshman of the Week chipped in a service ace and five digs as well. 
 
In the third set, UTM made things interesting late in the set. SEMO leading 22-15, UTM went on a quick 3-0 run to trim SEMO's led to 22-18. A well utilized SEMO timeout turned into a 3-0 run for the Redhawks to close out the match. 
 
SEMO's highest hitting-percentage as a team came in the third set as they hit an impressive 72-percent, a game-high. 
 
Outside hitter Kayla Closset and Marisa Guisti chipped in on the offensive side of the net, registering nine and eight kills, respectively. The combo combined for an overall percentage of .397. 
 
Libero Tara Beilsmith, the OVC Defender of the Week, controlled SEMO's back line as the graduate student from Weldon Spring, Mo. tallied 18 digs and a near-flawless reception percentage of .933. 
 
Off the bench, Freshman Nina Schuberth registered three service aces on 14 attempts. Defensively, Schuberth finished with eight digs and a reception percentage of .909. 
 
Izzy Lukens dished out 31 total assists in the three-set match, leading to a SEMO team hitting percentage of .326.
 
Scouting the Opponent
Tennessee State
The defending OVC champs are coming off a 1-3 loss to UT Martin Oct. 3rd, the Tigers sit in sixth place in the conference.
 
Senior hitters Celestial Miller and Kennedy Davis registered 15 and 12 kills while adding three blocks a piece in the loss. 
 
Miller is second on the team in kills with 136 on the season while Davis leads the team in blocks with 60, ranking third in the OVC.
 
Freshman Libero Celianiz Cabranes notched 19 digs adding to her 272 total.
 
Alanys Otero dished out 40 assists to seven different hitters. Otero was a presence on the defensive side as well finishing with ten digs.
 
The leader in kills on the year, Jayla Holcombe only had seven kills but posted two blocks against the Skyhawks.
 
Gabrielle Johnson led the team in blocks putting back four against the tigers. Johnson has a team high 62 blocks on the year, fourth best in the OVC.
 
Head Coach Donika Sutton is in her seventh season with the tigers. Last season she led the team to their first conference crown since 2007.