Southeast Missouri State volleyball suffers five-set defeat to SIU Edwardsville

Not for the first time this season, a five-set match ended in disappointment for the Southeast Missouri State volleyball team on Friday night.

In the penultimate contest of the regular season, the Redhawks battled with SIU Edwardsville but were ultimately outlasted 25-18, 17-25, 11-25, 25-19 and 15-9 in an Ohio Valley Conference matchup at Houck Field House.

Southeast (10-19 overall, 5-10 OVC) took advantage of the Cougars' (22-5, 12-3) self-inflicted mistakes in the second and third games to swing to a 2-1 edge in the match, but SIUE rebounded and got stronger as the night went on to secure victory.

The visitors had a minus-.097 hitting percentage in the third set, committing 11 errors to eight kills. They committed just 11 errors in the three victorious games combined.

SEMO, meanwhile, attacked at a .458 clip in the third set.

Senior Krissa Gearring led Southeast with 15 kills and 15 digs for her 11th double-double of the season. Nzingha Clarke added 11 kills for the home side.

Senior Jessica McElderry posted a season-high .357 hitting percentage with seven kills, four blocks and three digs.

In more milestones, senior Allie Henkelman's 34 assists were a career best. She added 11 digs for her 12th double-double of the season.

Libero Ally Dion contributed defensively with 14 digs.

SIU Edwardsville was paced by Taylor Joens' 15 kills and six blocks. Samantha Knight had 24 assists for the Cougars while Katie Shashack had a team-high 19 digs.

In the opening game, the Cougars took a 4-3 edge on a Ashley Witt kill and never looked back, though SEMO got as close as 22-18 thanks to an attack error.

Southeast took its first lead of the second set at 9-8 on a kill by Marie Less and led the rest of the game, leading by as many as 10 points en route to evening the match at 1-all.

The Redhawks never trailed in the third game as it breezed to a 25-11 result.

It wasn't enough to put away the Cougars, though, as they 7-6 advantage in the third set following a SEMO ball handling error and were hardly threatened the rest of the set.

The fourth set did not begin well for Southeast, which fell into a 4-0 hole right out of the gates and had to watch SIUE walk out of the gym with a win.

Southeast closes the regular season Saturday hosting Eastern Illinois. The game is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Houck Field House, with Senior Day ceremonies prior to the game.

The Redhawks remain alive for a berth in the OVC Tournament with a victory against the Panthers.

-- From staff report