CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri Volleyball (18-12, 15-3 OVC) claimed the 2024 Ohio Valley Conference regular season title with a 3-0 victory over SIUE (12-17, 7-11 OVC) on Wednesday night from Houck Field House.
For the Redhawks, the regular season title is the 11
th in program history and the second under head coach
Julie Yankus. With the win, SEMO wrapped up the 2024 OVC Tournament's #1 overall seed and will host the tournament beginning on Sunday, November 24. SEMO Volleyball is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the program in 2024, and holds the most titles of any volleyball program, former or current, in Ohio Valley Conference history.
In Wednesday's match, the Redhawks were led by
Abby Johnson and
Lucy Arndt who each finished with 12 kills. Johnson finished with a .300 hitting-percentage. Arndt recorded 12 kills and tallied 10 digs for her 16
thdouble-double of the season.
Sophomore libero
Nina Schuberth continued her dominance on the backline as she recorded 20 digs in the match marking her 20
th game in a row with double-digit kills. She dished out two assists as well on 13 total attempts.
The win was the Redhawks' eight victory inside Houck Field House, finishing the regular season with an 8-1 record in Cape Girardeau. The sweep of SIUE marks the sixth series sweep of the season for SEMO after sweeping Tennessee State, Little Rock, Morehead State, Eastern Illinois, and UT Martin.
SEMO outhit SIUE by a .250 to .157 hitting advantage including 47 kills as a team compared to just 34 from the Cougars.
Setters
Megan Holder and
Kennedey Johnson played a major role in the team's hitting-percentage as the duo dished 22 and 16 assists, respectively, to lead SEMO.
The Redhawks totaled seven blocks in the game. Graduate middle blocker
Lexi Morse chipped in a team-high three block assists and one solo. Offensively, Morse added six kills on 13 total attacks (two errors) and finished the night with a .308 hitting-percentage.
Looking Ahead
#1 Southeast Missouri will play in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on Sunday, November 24, against #8 Tennessee State. First serve is slated for 4 p.m., CT. in Cape Girardeau.
