Match #24 & 25
Southeast Missouri (18-5, 10-2 OVC)         
vs. Western Illinois (7-16, 6-6 OVC) 
Match Information
Date: Friday, Nov. 3 & Saturday, Nov.4, 2023
First Serve: 6:00 p.m. | 6:00 p.m.
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Venue: Houck Field House
All-Time Series: SEMO leads Western Illinois 9-2
Last Meetings: SEMO win 3-0 | Sep. 6, 2019, | Cape Girardeau, Mo. 
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Live Video: ESPN+
 
Redhawks Host Western Illinois on Alumni Weekend & Senior Day Friday-Saturday
Southeast Missouri volleyball (18-5, 10-2 OVC) will be back in action Friday & Saturday, Nov. 3-4, when they take on the newest member of the Ohio Valley Conference, Western Illinois (7-16, 6-6 OVC) to continue conference action. First serve is slated for 6 p.m., CT. on both days inside Houck Field House. 
 
Alumni Weekend & Senior Day
This upcoming weekend will mark SEMO volleyball's annual alumni weekend with plenty of activity going on throughout the two days. Alumni are encouarged to RSVP, Here, for free to get a better head count for tickets. 
 
Saturday will also mark senior day for the SEMO volleyball program. Nine Redhawks will be honored prior to the start of Saturday's match including Rachel Eddy, Talia Gouard, Tara Beilsmith, Marisa Guisti, Izzy Lukens, Lexie Smith, Zoey Beasley, Taylor Beasley, and Mackenzie Meehan. 
 
Join us pregame to honor these athletes who have given so much to the SEMO Volleyball program. 
 
Series History
The Redhawks and Leathernecks will meet for the 12^th and 13^th time over the weekend with SEMO holding a commanding 9-2 lead in the series. 
 
SEMO is currently on a three-game win streak in the series dating back to Sept. 4, 2017, in a match that featured a 3-2 SEMO win in Macomb, Ill. 
 
The weekend matchup will feature the first time these two have played each other as conference foes as Western Illinois is in its inaugural season in the Ohio Valley Conference. 
 
Where We Rank 
Here is where SEMO ranks in the Ohio Valley Conference through 12 matches:

• -Middle Blocker Marisa Guisti is first in the conference in hitting percentage at .359.
• -Izzy Lukens is second in the conference in assists with 817 total on the season. She currently averages 10.09 assists-per-set.
• -Lucy Arndt is currently sixth in the conference in kills. The freshman from Freeport, Ill. has an even 300 kills on the season and a 3.45 kills-per-set ratio. 
• -Freshman Nina Schuberth is third in the conference in service aces for SEMO. Schuberth has 38 total on the season and averages .44 aces-per-set. 
• -Libero Tara Beilsmith continues to be the best libero in Ohio Valley Conference history as she leads the conference with 507 digs on the season, thus far. Tara has 32 more digs than her closest competition as she averages 5.83 digs-per-set. 

Last Time Out
Southeast Missouri volleyball throttled Little Rock on Monday Night, Oct. 30, to complete the season-sweep of the Trojans, beating them 3-0 for the second time this season. The Redhawks had previously knocked-off LR in Little Rock, 3-0, in a match that lasted just one hour and 20 minutes. 
 
The Redhawks won Monday's match by scores of 25-17, 25-21, and 25-14 to pick up their 10^th victory in conference play in 2023. 
 
SEMO was led by OVC Freshman of the Week and Player of the Game, Lucy Arndt. Arndt finished with a team and game-high 13 kills and a .200 attack percentage. 
 
She recorded a double-double, turning in 12 digs as well from her outside hitter position.
 
As a team, the Redhawks hit .264 as a team, registering 45 kills on 121 attempts with just 13 errors. Little Rock struggled to get anything going offensively hitting just .036 as a team. 
 
Libero Tara Beilsmith, the OVC leader in digs this season, was all over the court defensively turning in 17 digs to lead SEMO in the category once again. Four different Redhawks ended up in double-digit digs as Arndt, Nina Schuberth (10), and Izzy Lukens (10) all finished over double digits. 
 
SEMO dominated at the net as well, recording 10 block assists led by Marisa Guisti. Guisti was all over the net, recording five block assists for a team and game high. 
 
Redshirt sophomore Avery Torrey and sophomore Kalia Morris made their third-straight start for the Redhawks on Monday night after starting both matches last weekend in Charleston. 
 
Torrey chipped in four kills on 14 total attacks and recorded just one error to finish with a .214 hitting-percentage. 
 
Morris provided a steady presence on the back line of SEMO's defense and did not record a service error or reception error in Monday's match. 
 
SEMO hit over .240 in all three sets on Monday night as the Redhawks hit .294, .244, and .262 in the three sets, respectively to pick up SEMO's 18th win on the season.
 
Scouting the Opponent
Western Illinois
The Leathernecks are coming off a 1-3 loss against Tennessee Tech. Western Illinois had a hitting percentage of .245 with 53 total kills. 
 
Against Tennessee Tech, Keyana Cruse recorded a double-double with a team high 15 kills and 13 digs. Cruse is leading the team in kills and ranked fourth in the OVC with 297 on the year.
 
Maggie Cracker, Western Illinois setter, had 48 assists on the night which brought her season total to 794 (8.63 A/S) which ranks fifth in the OVC.
 
Western Illinois duo of Cracker and Cruse have 25 double-doubles on the year. Cracker has 13 this season while Cruse has posted 12.
 
The Leathernecks have three athletes over 225 digs on the year. Karli Wenzel, the Leathernecks Libero, has 401 digs this season which ranks sixth in the Ohio Valley Conference, Outside Hitter Cruse has 257 digs, and Cracker has posted 240 digs. 
 
At the net, Julianna Schmidt is leading Western Illinois in solo blocks and blocking assists. Schmidt is eighth in the OVC with 16 solo blocks and fifth in the OVC in blocking assists with 66. 
 
As a team this season Western Illinois has recorded 1021 kills (9th OVC), 931 assists (9th OVC), 188.5 total blocks (5th OVC), and 1584 digs (3rd OVC).
 
The Leathernecks are currently sitting in seventh, in the OVC standings with a 6-6 conference record, right behind Southern Indiana and SIUE who also have 6-6 conference records. 
 
Looking Ahead
Volleyball will be back in action next weekend, Nov. 10-11, when they travel to Cookeville, Tenn. to take on the Golden Eagles. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. on Friday and 7 p.m. on Saturday.