Nov. 5, 2003

Cape Girardeau, Mo. - This weekend's matchups with Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State could put the Southeast Missouri State back in familiar territory-atop the ranks of the OVC standings.

Southeast (9-16, 8-4 OVC) currently holds a four-match winning streak, having not lost since Oct. 17. The Otahks picked a good time to get hot, as their streak pushed them into a current tie for third place with Eastern Kentucky (17-10, 8-4 OVC). Southeast will get a chance to jump ahead of the Colonels Friday night at 7 p.m. in Houck Field House. Friday's match will also be Senior Night for the Otahks. Sarah Frost, Suzanne Gundlach, and Emily Scannell will each be honored before the contest.

On Saturday, depending on how well Morehead State fares against Eastern Illinois on Friday night, the Othaks could tie the Eagles (17-9, 10-2 OVC) in the OVC standings with a victory. That matchup will also be at 7 p.m. in the Houck Field House.

Also, with a pair of wins, Southeast will guarantee itself a place in the OVC Tournament.

Scouting Eastern Kentucky... The Colonels come into Friday's action as the third-best hitting team in the league. With a .222 hitting percentage, EKU is hitting 14 points higher than it's competition. The Colonels also are the third best in blocks per game, as they've averaged 2.19 this season.

EKU is led by a pair of young hitters. Sophomore Liz Guard is 10th in the league with a .269 hitting percentage, and is averaging 3.44 kills per game. Freshman Jessica Sabath averages 3.49 kills per game, with a .226 PCT.

Setting the pair will be another youngster, freshman Kelly Jennings. She is currently fifth in the league with more than 11 assists per game.

Defensively, Sabath and junior Lesley Aldridge lead the way on digs, each averaging more than four per game. Guard, meanwhile, is third in the league with 102 blocks on the season.

The Colonels just had a four-match winning streak of their own snapped, as they lost to Jacksonville State on Nov. 1. In that match Adridge had an outstanding match, scoring 23 kills and 23 digs. Sabath also recorded a double-double in that match, her 19th on the season.

Scouting Morehead State... The Eagles will enter the match on a two-match winning streak. MSU topped Jacksonville State (3-1) and Samford (3-0) last week. Those wins came after an early-week loss to non-conference Ohio University.

Morehead sports a talented squad, led by this week's offensive player of the week, Jennifer Kennedy. The 6-foot-one junior hitter registered 45 kills and six aces the past week. She is fourth in the OVC with her 4.22 kills per game, and fifth in the league with .40 aces per game. For Kennedy it is the second time this season she has won the OVC offensive player of the week honor.

Another Morehead player who is no stranger to OVC honors is senior Cherelle Lampkins. The outside hitter has been named OVC defensive player of the week three times this year, and offensive player of the week once. Lampkins leads the OVC with 4.91 digs per game. She also averages more than four kills per game. She recently became the all-time digs leader in OVC history, and is 11th all-time in NCAA history. With Lampkins leading the way, MSU is tops overall as a team in digs per game in the OVC.