Volleyball Opens 2026 Season with SEMO Invitational

Friday, August 28

Cape Girardeau, Mo.

12:00 PM

Southeast Missouri State University

Western Kentucky

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8/27/2026 2:52:00 PM | Volleyball

Match #1 & #2

Western Kentucky at Southeast Missouri

Date: Thursday, August 28, Friday August 29
Time: 12 p.m.
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Series: SEMO leads 5-3
Head Coaches: Julie Yankus (SEMO | 16th Season); Travis Hudson (WKU | 32nd Season)

Match #3

Oregon at Southeast Missouri

Date: Saturday, August 29
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Series: First Meeting
Head Coaches: Julie Yankus (SEMO | 16 Season); Trent Kersten (ORE | Second Season)

Live Stats
WKU (Game 1)
WKU (Game 2)
Oregon

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WKU (Game 1)
WKU (Game 2)
Oregon

Southeast Missouri Volleyball (0-0, 0-0 OVC) will battle with Western Kentucky to open the 2026 season. The Redhawks and Hilltoppers will compete Friday at noon as well as at noon Saturday. SEMO faces Oregon to wrap up the Invitational at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

There will be a SEMO rubber duck giveaway for the game against Oregon, while supplies last.

SERIES HISTORY

Hilltoppers

The Redhawks and Hilltoppers are meeting for the first time since 2004. SEMO has the all-time series lead 5-3, despite losing the last match played back in 2004. The first matchup between the two teams was in 1985 where SEMO won.

Ducks

SEMO and Oregon will meet for the first time in program history.

The Team

Southeast Missouri Volleyball returns 12 players from the 2025 season. The Redhawks also bring in four freshmen and one transfer to round out the team. Included in the returners are 2026 team captains outside hitter Lucy Arndt, libero Nina Schuberth and setter Megan Holder. Schuberth and Arndt are the two seniors on the 2026 squad.

Returning All-OVC

A pair of Redhawks landed on the 2025 All-OVC Postseason Team(s) in senior Lucy Arndt and junior Marin Johnson. Arndt landed on the First Team for the third-straight season. The 2023 OVC Freshman of the Year ended the regular season with 409 kills and an overall hitting-percentage of .194, and a .212 mark in league play.

Johnson landed on the Second Team All-OVC list for the first time in her career. The Wheaton, Illinois-native finished second on the squad in kills with 317 on 906 total attacks.

2026 Players to Watch

Sophomore Outside hitters Katy St. John and Reagan Nelson were named to the preseason OVC Players to Watch. As a freshman St. John played in 118 sets and racked up 243 kills. Her most kills in a match came at Eastern Illinois on 10/18 with 16 kills. She also collected 65 blocks and had a .250 attacking percentage.

Nelson played in 92 sets while battling injury. She had 118 kills including a season high 24 in the OVC tournament against Little Rock on Nov. 23. Her 19 kills against Eastern Illinois in the semifinals earned her s apot on the OVC All-Tournament team. Nelson also added 17 service aces and 14 blocks.

Serve It Up

Junior Nina Schuberth has recorded 140 service aces for her career overall. In three seasons, Schuberth now ranks second all-time in the program's history for aces having surpassed current assistant coach Tara Beilsmith who had 139 from 2019-2023. Schuberth recorded an ace in the final match of the season against Eastern Illinois to pass Beilsmith.

Schuberth also set the new single season SEMO record with 54 service aces in 2025. She beat her own record of 49 from the 2023 season.

The Schedule

SEMO Volleyball will play a 29-game schedule featuring four non-conference tournaments including opening the season hosting the SEMO Invitational when Western Kentucky (8/28-29) and Oregon (8-29) come to Houck FIeld House. The team will also play in the Saluki Bash against host Southern Illinois (9/4), along with Merrimack (9/5). The Redhawks then travel to Chicago for the Loyola Tournament and battle with the host Loyola (9/10), Bradley (9/11) and Alabama A&M (9/11). The final tournament is the Missouri Challenge that will see the Redhawks play Saint Louis and Missouri State (9/18) and Kansas City (9/19). SEMO also has two single game non-confernce opponents when it travels to Evansville (9/1) and hosts Little Rock (9/16).

OVC matches start on September 25th when the Redhawks travel to Western Illinois. The first home OVC match is against SIUE on October 2nd. Other home OVC matches include Lindenwood (10/9-10), Tennessee State (10/29-30) and Eastern Illinois (1/17-18).

Yankus' 16th Season

Head coach Julie Yankus enters her 16th season in 2025 at the helm of SEMO Volleyball. She has compiled a 249-219 overall record and a 155-109 Ohio Valley Conference mark in her career. Under Yankus, the Redhawks have won two OVC Tournament Championships (2019 & 2021) and Regular season titles (2021 & 2024). She has been named OVC Coach of the Year once in her career (2021). The Redhawks have now competed in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament in 14 of Yankus' 15 seasons. She has mentored 31 All-OVC Team selections, three OVC DPOY selections (Tara Beilsmith 2x, Nina Schuberth), and one OVC Freshman of the Year (Lucy Arndt).

Tabbed Second

SEMO Volleyball was picked to finish second in the 2026 Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Poll voted on by the league's head coaches and communications staff. SEMO received three first-place votes and 102 points overall, 14 points behind of leader Morehead State (116).

BIG Matches in Houck FIeld House

This is the second straight season the Redhawks host a big ten opponent. In 2025, SEMO took down the University of Iowa 21-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-22, 15-7. In the match against Iowa, the Redhawks had more kills than the Hawkeyes in every set except the third set.