CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southeast Missouri volleyball (3-7) fell in a five-set thriller to Missouri State (5-6) by a final score of 3-2. SEMO was led in kills by Abby Johnson who recorded a SEMO carer best, 19 kills. 
 
The Redhawks fell 19-25, 25-14, 28-26, 17-25, and 11-15 in the first match of the Saluki Invitational.
 
Johnson finished the match with 31 total attacks, with just four errors, for an impressive .484 hitting-percentage. Lucy Arndt, who recorded a double-double, finished with 13 kills as the only other Redhawk in double figures. Arndt finished with 16 digs on the afternoon. 
 
Setters Megan Holder and Kennedey Johnson finished with 24 and 22 assists, respecitley, as the Redhawk hit .209 as a team in the contest. For Johnson, her 22 assists was a SEMO career-best.  
 
Freshman hitter Alayna Christner recorded her first collegiate career kill in the match as she finished with four on 13 total attacks. 
 
Set 1
Lucy Arndt got the scoring going for both sides with a kill on the first serve of the match. An Alaina Lester kill off the assist from Megan Holder gave the Redhawks an early two-point advantage. 
 
Back-and-forth early in the frame, the Redhawks would go on a 3-0 run to take a 9-4 lead midway through the set with back-to-back kills from Avery Torrey and Arndt. 
 
The Bears would respond with a 7-0 run forcing SEMO into an early set one timeout. At the break, MSU led 11-9. 
 
Trailing by four late in the first set, the Redhawks executed inside of a long rally as Abbey Richman dished out a nice pass to Abby Johnson for the kill to trim the deficit to just four, 18-14. 
 
Trailing 20-14, an attack error from MSU's Rilynn Finley gave the Redhawks their 15^th point of the set. A 4-0 scoring run with a pair of kills and back-to-back aces from MSU put the Bears on set point.
 
A kill from Marin Johnson continued the set at 24-16, and then back-to-back blocks from Ramiri Gardner and Alayna Christner put the Redhawks on a 3-0 run out of the timeout. Kayla Closset dialed up an ace to make it four straight forcing MSU into a timeout at 24-19. 
 
The Bears would find a kill out of the break and took the first set 25-19. SEMO was led by Arndt and Marin Johnson with three kills each and hit .128 as a team in the opening frame. 
 
Set 2
The Redhawks got out of the gate fast in the second frame with kills from Abby Johnson and Arndt to give SEMO an early 3-0 lead. 
 
A huge block from Gardner and Christner with an 8-4 SEMO lead, put the Redhawks up five approaching the middle of the second frame. 
 
With an 8-5 lead, back-to-back attack errors from MSU forced the Bears into a timeout as the Redhawks led 10-5, amid a 3-0 scoring run. 
 
Winning 11-7, freshman Alayna Christner recorded her first collegiate kill to put the Redhawks up by five in the middle of the set. 
 
Late in the set, SEMO would go on a 5-0 run winning 16-11 to extend the lead to 10. The Redhawks utilized two kills from Marin Johnson to take a 21-11 lead. 
 
SEMO dominated the second frame, outhitting MSU by a .440 to -.061 advantage and took the second set, 25-14. Abby Johnson and Lucy Arndt led the way offensively with six and five kills, respectively. 
 
Set 3
The Redhawks jumped out to a 3-1 lead early in the third frame thanks to a pair of kills from Abby and Marin Johnson, and an ace from Lucy Arndt. 
 
Following an attack error, the Redhawks led 8-5 before going on a 3-0 scoring run via a kill from Christner and back-to-back MSU attack errors forcing the Bears into a timeout. SEMO led 11-5 at the break. 
 
MSU would fight back in the set trailing 17-13, with a 4-0 scoring run to get to within a point of the Redhawks. 
 
Leading by a point, Abby Johnson got into double-digit kills with her 10^th of the match to restore a two-point advantage for the Redhawks at 19-17. Johnson was hitting .368 on 19 total attacks, with just three errors. 
 
With a 20-19 lead, a reception error from the Redhawks tied the set at 20 all, forcing SEMO into a late timeout in the third. A game of runs, MSU used a 3-0 run to tie the set. 
 
The set would once again be tied at 22 a side before Arndt registered her sixth and seventh kills to put SEMO on set point with a 24-22 advantage. 
 
A MSU kill from Finley, followed by an ace from Rossana Papa tied the set once again before a big kill from Alaina Lester regained the set point advantage for the Redhawks, who led 25-24. 
 
Libero Nina Schuberth, the SEMO single season record holder for aces, dialed up her specialty to give the Redhawks a 28-26 victory with her second ace of the match. SEMO led 2-1 heading into the fourth set. 
 
Set 4
A tightly contest fourth set, the Bears and Redhawks were tied six different times early in the set. With a 12-10 advantage, MSU utilized a 3-0 scoring run to force the Redhawks into a timeout and led 15-10. 
 
A service error from MSU's Riley Ourth halted run, as the Redhawks trailed 17-11. 
 
A Marin Johnson kill at 18-11, made it 18-12. The kill was the freshman's seventh of the match as the Redhawks looked to climb back into the frame. 
 
Abby Johnson's 17^th kill of the match set a new personal-best for the graduate student, but MSU would hold on for the 25-17 set four win to force it to a decisive fifth set. 
 
SEMO hit an impressive .393 in the fourth frame, the second highest of the match, but were outhit by MSU who finished with a .517 hitting-percentage. 
 
Set 5
A heavily contested fifth set, the Redhawks and Bears switched sides with MSU leading 8-7. Abby Johnson recorded kills 18 and 19 in the beginning of the frame to keep the Redhawks within just a point. 
 
SEMO could never gain the lead in the fifth and final frame, as MSU closed the match on a 3-0 scoring run to take the fifth set, 15-11. 
 
Looking Ahead
SEMO volleyball will conclude the Saluki Invitational on Saturday, September 21, against Southern Illinois. First serve is slated for 3 p.m. in Carbondale.