Nov. 1, 2006

Box Score

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Senior outside hitter Jessica Koeper (Jackson, Mo./Jackson) produced a double-double of a match-high 18 kills and 22 digs as Southeast Missouri State volleyball captured a 3-1 (30-22, 30-26, 23-30, 30-27) Ohio Valley Conference win over host Eastern Illinois at EIU's Lantz Arena. The Redhawks improve to 13-15 (7-6) with the victory and the Panthers fall to 7-17 (2-11) on the year in their home finale.

Junior outside hitter Brittany Hastings (Wichita, Kan./Circle) added 17 kills for the Redhawks, while freshman setter Sarah Barth (Germantown, Ill./Central) produced a double-double of 50 assists and 20 digs, both career high totals, for the Redhawks. Freshman libero Molly Davis (Muncie, Ind./Burris) contributed a team-best 23 digs, junior middle blocker Brenna Schlader (Columbia, Mo./Hickman) recorded 13 kills and freshman middle blocker Hannah Weis (St. Louis, Mo./Incarnate Word) added five block assists.

Southeast opened the first game with a 6-1 scoring run, which included three kills and a service ace from Koeper. Three consecutive Schader kills later increased its lead at 15-4, but EIU bounced back to score 17 of the next 30 points played to close within 28-21 on a block by Lauren Schutte and Eliza Zwettler. The Redhawks then scored two of the game's final three points to capture a 1-0 lead.

Both teams battled through eight ties in the second stanza until the Panthers posted an 8-3 run to claim an 18-13 lead on a Southeast hitting error. The Redhawks then came back by producing a 10-5 scoring drive to even the score at 23-23 on a Hastings kill. Three straight service points from freshman right side hitter Karleigh DeLong (Corona, Calif./Santiago), including two service aces, put the visitors ahead by a 26-23 margin. DeLong finished the match with a career-best four service aces. Southeast tallied four of the next seven points to enter intermission with a two-game advantage.

EIU opened the third game with an early 10-3 lead on a kill from Schutte. A 12-6 scoring run by the Redhawks closed their deficit to within a single point at 16-15 on a kill from Hastings. A Zwettler service ace later hiked the Panthers' advantage to 26-20 and the home team coasted to the win by scoring four of the stanza's final seven points.

Six service points by Davis broke a 13-all tie in the fourth game as Southeast claimed a 19-13 advantage. Two blocks by Jessica Wheeler and Lauren Sopcic were part of an 8-3 scoring run that sliced EIU's deficit to 22-21, but kills from Koeper and Schlader brought the visitors' leading margin back to three at 24-21. After a Redhawk hitting error evened the score at 24-all, Southeast finshed the match behind a quick 6-3 scoring run that ended with a DeLong service ace.

Zwettler led EIU with a double-double of 17 kills and a match-high 29 digs. Kera Griffin added 13 kills and seven blocks (one solo, six assisted), while Sopcic contributed 13 kills for the Panthers. Schutte tallied a match-high 60 assists and Maren Crabtree posted 21 digs.

The Redhawks are back in action this Saturday afternoon at Tennessee Tech, beginning at 2 p.m.