Match #21 & #22
Southeast Missouri (16-4, 8-1 OVC)         
vs. Eastern Illinois (19-2, 9-1 OVC) 
Match Information
Date: Friday, Oct. 27 & Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023
First Serve: 6:00 p.m. | 4:00 p.m. 
Location: Charleston, Ill.  
Venue: Lantz Arena
All-Time Series: SEMO leads Eastern Illinois 43-23-1
Last Meetings: OVC Tournament | Martin, Tenn. | W, 3-2, Nov. 17, 2022
Live Stats: SIDEARM Sports
Live Video: ESPN+
 
Redhawks Battle Eastern Illinois for Top Spot in OVC Friday & Saturday
Southeast Missouri volleyball (16-4, 8-1 OVC) will travel to Charleston, Ill. to face Eastern Illinois (19-2, 9-1 OVC) on Friday & Saturday, Oct. 27-28, in a battle for the top spot in the Ohio Valley Conference. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. on Friday and 4 p.m. on Saturday. 
 
Series History
The Redhawks and Panthers will meet for the 68^th & 69^th time this weekend as two of the longest tenured programs in the Ohio Valley Conference. SEMO holds the overall series lead by a mark of 43-23-1. 
 
The last time these two met on the volleyball court came in the 2022 OVC Tournament's First Round as the #5 Redhawks knocked off #4 Eastern Illinois, 3-2, to advance to the semifinals. 
 
SEMO was swept in the 2022 regular season by EIU dropping both regular season matches, 0-3, at Houck Field House. 
 
#OVCit
Here is where the Redhawks sit statistically in conference play heading into the biggest matchup of the season: 
 

• Marisa Guisti leads the conference in hitting percentage at .376 with 210 kills on the season. 
• Izzy Lukens is second in the OVC in assists. The setter from Omaha, Neb. Has 697 total assits on the season, including a 10.10 average-per-set. 
• Freshman Lucy Arndt is fifth in the conference in kills with 256. Arndt is averaging 3.41 kills-per-set.
• Nina Schuberth has provided SEMO with a nice role coming off the bench as she sits in fourth in the conference with service aces. The freshman has 33 on the season (.44 AVG/S). 
• The All-Time leader in the OVC in digs, Tara Beilsmith leads the conference on the defensive side of the net with 444 digs so far in 2023. Beilsmith averages 5.92 digs-per-set, a full .56 more than second place. 

 
Last Time Out
The Redhawks were last in action on Wednesday, Oct. 18, when they took on Little Rock in a matchup between OVC travel partners. SEMO throttled LR, 3-0, to improve to 8-1 in the conference. 
 
SEMO won the match 25-13, 25-12, and 25-14 in a game that took just one hour and 12 minutes to complete. 
 
The Redhawks were led offensively by freshman Lucy Arndt and senior Kayla Closset. The duo finished with 14 and 10 kills, respecitvely, as SEMO hit .425 as a team with a .483 kill-percentage. 
 
Both players hit .500 or better. Arndt finished with 14 kills on 24 attacks (.500) while Closset finished with 10 kills on 19 attacks (.526). 
 
Graduate student Tara Beilsmith, the all-time leader in Ohio Valley Conference in digs, was a staple in the SEMO back line as she finished with 19 kills without registering a single return error. Beilsmith is now at 2,682 career digs in a SEMO shirt. 
 
The Redhawks never trailed in a single set in Wednesday's match as Little Rock failed to record over 15 points in any of the three sets.
 
As a team, SEMO defensviley recorded 10 total blocks, led by senior middle blocker Marisa Guisti who finished with three solo blocks and two block assists. 
 
Guisti chipped in seven kills on 14 attacks (one error) for a .429 hitting-percentage. 
 
Sophomore Kalia Morris and redshirt sophomore Avery Torrey made their first start of the season on Wednesday night. Morris, from Kansas City, Mo., finished with a service ace and had zero reception errors. 
 
Avery Torrey recorded three kills, playing all three sets for the Redhawks on Wednesday night. 
 
Three Redhawks finished in double figures with points as Arndt (16.5), closset (10.5), and Guisti (11) paced the way.
 
Scouting the Opponent
Eastern Illinois 
Eastern Illinois is coming off a sweep of Tennessee Tech. The Panthers beat TTU 3-2 in both sets and they had a hitting percentage of .366% in the first game and .249% in the second. 
 
Against Tennessee Tech, Giovana Larregui Lopez led the team in kills with 50 kills over the two matches. Lopez also recorded a double-double in both games with 13 and 12 assists.
 
The Panthers setter Catalina Rochaix registered 58 assists, nine digs, and three blocking assists in the first game and recorded 58 assists and 13 digs in the second match.
 
Rochaix has a total of 820 assists (10.65 A/S) on the season which is currently the most in the OVC. Rochaix also has 141 digs on the year and 22 blocking assists. 
 
Giovana Larregui Lopez and Natalie Mitchem are Eastern Illinois leading hitters and are ranked first and second in the OVC in kills. Lopez has 293 kills (3.81 K/S) and Mitchem is right behind her with 279 (3.62 K/S) on the year.
 
Defensively, the freshman Julia Stanev is leading the OVC in blocks per set with 1.21, fourth in total blocks and blocking assists with 85 and 72. 
 
The senior libero, Christina Martinez Mundo has 429 digs on the year which is the second highest in the OVC. 
 
As a team Eastern Illinois is leading the league in points (1396.5), hitting percentage (.278%), assists (1007), and service aces (170). 
 
The Panthers currently sit atop the OVC standings with a 9-1 conference record right in front of SEMO who has an 8-1 conference record. 
 
Looking Ahead
Following the weekend in Illinois, SEMO will return home to face Little Rock on Monday, Oct. 30, at 6 p.m. The match will mark the first of three-straight at Houck Field House as the Redhawks will welcome in Western Illinois next weekend, Nov. 3-4.