Match 17
Southeast Missouri (7-9, 4-1 OVC) at Missouri (9-5, 1-2 SEC)
 
Match Information
Date: Wednesday, October 9
Time: 7:00 P.M., CT. 
Location: Columbia, Mo. 
Venue: Hearnes Center
 
Follow the Redhawks: 
X: @SEMOVb
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Watch: SEC Network +
 
Game Notes (PDF)
Media Guide (PDF)
 
Redhawks Pause OVC Play with Midweek Match at Missouri Wednesday
Southeast Missouri Volleyball (7-9, 4-1 OVC) will take a brief pause in Ohio Valley Conference action on Wednesday, Oct. 9, when they take on Missouri (9-5, 1-2 SEC) in Columbia, Missouri. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. at the Hearnes Center. 
 
Series History
The Redhawks and Tigers will meet for the 12^th time on the volleyball court Wednesday Night and the fifth-straight match in the series in Columbia, Mo. The two teams last met on September 21, 2013, in a match that saw Missouri win 3-0. SEMO's most recent win the series came all the way back in 1999 with a 3-0 win over the Tigers. MU holds an 8-3 record overall in the series. 
 
SEC Opponents
The Redhawks have faced off with the Southeastern Conference already in 2024, coming in the first weekend of the season with a matchup versus Mississippi on August 31. Ole Miss took the match, 3-1, in Jonesboro, Ark. Prior to that, the Redhawks advanced to the 2021 NCAA Volleyball Tournament, after winning the Ohio Valley Conference, where they played Kentucky in the first round. The Wildcats swept the match 3-0. SEMO does have a lone win over SEC opponents as the Redhawks downed Mississippi State in 2013 by a final score of 3-1. 
 
Last Week
A week ago, the Redhawks cruised to three-straight victories to open the home slate in Cape Girardeau beginning with Wednesday's 3-1 victory over Little Rock. 
 
After a nervy first set that saw Little Rock win, 25-20, and outhit the Redhawks .220 to .064, SEMO settled in and won three sets in a row for their second victory in OVC play. Lucy Arndt led the way with 13 kills as she was one-of-three Redhawks in double figures for the match. 
 
SEMO hosted Tennessee State over the weekend to continue OVC play as the Redhawks swept the weekend against the Tigers beginning with a 3-0 victory on Friday night. 
 
The Redhawks hit .276 to just .090 as Arndt was once again at the top of the leaderboard offensively. Arndt finished with 14 kills, Abby Johnson finished with 10 kills, and Ramiri Gardner rounded out the top offensive performances with nine. 
 
Outside of a lopsided third set, the Redhawks cruised to a 3-1 victory on Saturday afternoon to complete the weekend sweep over TSU. Southeast outhit the Tigers by a .145 to .120 hitting differential but a staggering .500 to .051 TSU advantage in the third set, trailing 2-0, forced a fourth frame. 
 
Gardner finished with a career-high 15 kills in the match, aided by 25 assists by Megan Holder to pick up their fourth win in OVC play. 
 
OVC Table
After five games in Ohio Valley Conference play, Southeast Missouri currently sits tied for second place with rival Lindenwood (10-7, 4-1 OVC) and are just a game behind league leader Tennessee Tech (15-1, 4-0 OVC) in first place. 
 
Southern Indiana and Little Rock both sit at 3-2 in league play, followed by Morehead State (2-2), Western Illinois (2-3), and UT Martin (1-2). 
 
SIUE (1-3), Eastern Illinois (0-4), and Tennessee State (0-4) round out the bottom of the league table after the first two weekends. 
 
Career-Day
Redshirt sophomore Ramiri Gardner rounded out last week with a career-best performance recording 15 kills on 23 total attacks, with just one error, for a season-best .609 hitting-percentage. Gardner chipped in a pair of block assists and three service aces to go on her stat sheet, tying a season-high in aces. 
 
Defend Redhawks
The Redhawks defense has been on full display over the last few games as they rank second in the Ohio Valley Conference in opponent hitting-percentage. SEMO has recorded 200 total blocks and 1,012 digs to hold opponents to just a .181 hitting-percentage. Only Tennessee Tech ranks higher with a .142 opponent hitting-percentage. 
 
No, No, No 
Freshman middle blocker Alaina Lester is among the league's best on the defensive side of the net. The Millstadt, Illinois native has 74 total blocks, including 61 block assists and 13 solo blocks, for a 1.19 block-per-set mark as she ranks second in the league for blocks. 
 
Offensive Mindset
Ramiri Gardner ranks first overall in the Ohio Valley Conference in hitting-percentage. In 58 sets played, Gardner has recorded 114 kills on 236 total attacks, with just 25 errors, for an overall .377 hitting-percentage. Her hitting percentage is .027 points higher than Nicole Medlin of SIUE (.350). 
 
Nina, Lucy, Megan, ACE
Three Redhawks rank in the top 10 in service aces in the Ohio Valley Conference after five games led by freshman Megan Holder with 23. Sophomores Lucy Arndt and Nina Schuberth are tied for eighth with 21 aces each. As a team, the Redhawks rank third in the conference with 99 service aces on the season. 
 
Bump, SET, Spike
Freshman Megan Holder has been the catalyst for the Redhawks offense thus far, dishing out 338 assists over 57 sets (5.93 per-set) where she ranks sixth in the OVC for that category. So far, SEMO has a .179 hitting-percentage as a team. Holder has recorded double-digit assists in 15-of-16 games this season, including a season-high 40 at Southern Indiana (9/28). 
 
Scouting the Opponent
Missouri
The Tigers come into the match with a 9-5 overall record and just a 1-2 mark in SEC play through the first three matches. MU has dropped their two most recent matches to Texas A&M (3-2) and #13 Kentucky (3-0), respectively. 
 
Their lone conference win came in the SEC opener with a 3-0 sweep of LSU in Baton Rouge. Mychael Vernon leads the MU offense with 200 kills, followed by Jordan Iliff (183), and Janet deMarrais (138). 
 
The offense runs through Marina Crownover as she has dished out 365 total assists as the Tigers hold a .295 hitting-percentage so far in 2024. Sierra Dudley is MU's other setter as she has recorded 203 assists herself. 
 
Maya Sands patrols the Tigers' back line and Colleen Finney commands the net. Sands has 220 digs on the season, while Finney has registered 37.0 total blocks this year. 
 
MU is led by head coach Dawn Sullivan in her second season in Columbia.