Match #14 & #15
Southeast Missouri (10-3, 2-0 OVC)         
vs. SIUE (6-7, 0-2 OVC) 
Match Information
Date: Friday, Sept. 29 & Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023
First Serve: 6:00 p.m. | 2:00 p.m. 
Location: Edwardsville, IL.  
Venue: First Community Arena
All-Time Series: SEMO leads SIUE 14-13
Last Meetings: at SEMO (W, 3-1, Nov. 5, 2022)
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2
ESPN+: Game 1 | Game 2
 
Redhawks Travel to SIUE Friday & Saturday to Continue OVC Play
Southeast Missouri volleyball (10-3, 2-0 OVC) will be back in action on Friday & Saturday to take on SIUE (6-7, 0-2 OVC) as the OVC season rolls on. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday from the First Community Arena in Edwardsville, Ill. 
 
Series History
The Redhawks and Cougars will meet for the 28^th & 29^th time this weekend as SEMO swept the Cougars last season, 3-1 & 3-1, in Cape Girardeau, Mo. The Redhawks currently hold a 14-13 lead over the Cougars in the overall series. 
 
Weekly Awards
Izzy Lukens and Lucy Arndt were selected as the Co-Setter and Co-Freshman of the Week, respectively, by the Ohio Valley Conference, the league announced Monday afternoon. 
 
For both Lukens and Arndt, the award marks the third-straight week that the duo has landed on the conference's weekly award list. 
 
Izzy Lukens finished the first weekend of conference play accumulating 78 assists as the Redhawks picked up two wins over Morehead State on Friday & Saturday. 
 
The senior from Omaha, Neb. Is now at 435 total assists for the season as the Redhawks as a team are hitting .207 through the first 13 games of the season. Lukens is now sitting at 9.67 assists-per-set to lead the Redhawks in that category. 
 
The weekly award is the third of the season for Lukens. 
 
Freshman Lucy Arndt continued her impressive performance so far this season, registering 20 kills in Friday's match that saw the Redhawks win, 3-1. 
 
Arndt hit .216 over the weekend, including a staggering .255 on Friday night, as SEMO is now 2-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference. 
 
Lucy is averaging 3.22 kills-per-set and has been responsible for 188 points on the campaign (3.69 PPS). 
 
She has started every single match for SEMO this season and has played in every single set for the Redhawks so far.
 
Last Time Out
The Redhawks began OVC play with a statement, sweeping the season-series with Morehead State last Friday & Saturday to improve to 2-0 on the season in conference play. 

SEMO won the first match 3-1 on Friday night: 25-23, 19-25, 25-19, 25-23. The Redhawks were trailing 23-18 in the fourth set, facing a potential fifth set decider. SEMO closed the set on a 7-0 socring run to win the match in four sets. 
 
Freshman Lucy Arndt, the reigning OVC Freshman of the Week, finished the match as the 'Player of the Game' with her 20 kills to lead all Redhawks. Arndt registered a .255 attack percentage, including 11 digs on the defensive side of the net. 
 
Outside hitter Kayla Closset had a standout performance for the Redhawks on both offense and defense. The Naperville, Ill.-native finished with 17 kills on 52 attempts for a .212 hitting-percentage.
 
Izzy Lukens continued her impressive streak as the OVC Setter of the Week with 42 assists helping the Redhawks hit .160 as a team in the four-set thriller. 
 
Freshman Nina Schuberth had a big contribution off the bench for SEMO's defense as she finished with 14 digs and served a total of 19 times with no errors.
 
Saturday was a Redhawks domination as SEMO won in three straight sets to complete the weekend sweep of MSU. 
 
SEMO beat the Eagles in three straight sets 25-22, 25-17, and 26-16 to stay undefeated in conference play.
 
With the score 13-12, the Redhawks went on a 12 to four run to close out the game while 202 fans cheered on. SEMO chalked up 15 more assists and kills than the Eagles in the 3-0 sweep.
 
Junior setter Izzy Lukens dished out 36 assists to be named "Player of the Game". The reigning OVC setter of the week has tallied 30 plus assists in eight straight games. Lukens also added four kills to the stat sheet, one of which was a beautiful one-handed dump in the second set.
 
Lucy Arndt and Kaelyn O'Brien both had nine kills which led the Redhawks. Arndt also added eight digs with a .185 clip, while O'Brien posted a kill rate of .278. 
 
Talia Gouard had a hitting percentage of .583 for a team high. Gouard had eight kills on 12 attempts with only one attacking error.
 
On the defensive side Tara Beilsmith recorded 17 digs to lead the Redhawks in that category. Kayla Closset also got double digit digs recording ten.
 
Freshman Nina Schuberth contributed on the serving side with four serving aces. Schuberth also tallied seven digs and one assist.
 
200 Watch
After last weekend's victories, head coach Julie Yankus now sits at 197 career wins. 
 
Scouting the Opponent
SIUE
SIUE is coming off a 1-3 loss against fellow conference foe Lindenwood. The Cougars registered 49 total kills on 162 total attempts (.130 Hitting%).
 
Junior Priscilla Jones led the Cougars in kills with 13. Julia Treichel had eight kills but also added 13 digs, two solo blocks, and one blocking assist. 
 
Alyse Drifka recorded a double-double with 22 assists and 11 digs. Drifka has recorded five double doubles this season and three in the last three games.
 
Abi Banitt, the freshman defensive specialist had a team leading 16 digs. Banitt currently leads the Cougars in digs this season with 174.
 
SIUE's leader in kills is Priscilla Jones with 130 this year and the junior Sydney Hummert is right behind her with 122 kills. 
 
The Cougars have an impressive set of setters with three over 120 sets this season. Alyse Drifka has a team leading 250 (5.00 A/S), Grace Beekman with 144 (5.54 A/S), and Corinna Jones with 121 (4.03 A/S). 
 
Defensively, Sydney Hummert is tied for third in the OVC with nine solo blocks and Jones is tied for third in the OVC with 43 blocking assists. 
 
SIUE is currently in eighth place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings. 
 
SIUE is coached by Kendall Paulus who is in her seventh season as head coach for the Cougars. 
 
Looking Ahead
Volleyball will return to Houck Field House next weekend, Oct. 6-7, when they welcome in UT Martin. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. on Friday night and 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.