Redhawks sweep Austin Peay in finale of regular season

The Southeast Missouri State volleyball team put an exclamation point on its regular season Friday night.

Southeast swept past Austin Peay 30-20, 30-25, 30-25 at Houck Field House.

The Redhawks ended the regular season by winning 12 of their last 13 matches.

Southeast improved to 20-11 overall and 15-5 in Ohio Valley Conference play as the Redhawks can finish no worse than tied for second place in the 11-team league.

The Redhawks are still in the running for a share of the OVC regular-season title as they trail first-place Morehead State (15-4) by one-half game. The Eagles finish today at Samford.

Regardless, Southeast is assured of its highest OVC finish since it won the title in 2000.

This year also marks the Redhawks' first overall winning record under third-year coach Renata Nowacki, who went 16-16 in 2005 and 16-18 last year.

Against Austin Peay (8-24, 3-16), Karleigh DeLong and Aubrey Dondlinger each had 10 kills to pace Southeast.

Dondlinger added 12 digs for a double-double. Sarah Barth also had a double-double with 34 assists and 18 digs. Molly Davis recorded 23 digs.

Southeast will now prepare for the OVC tournament that begins Thursday at the regular-season champion.