COLUMN: No place like home for OVC-hosting Redhawks

There is no better way for the Southeast Missouri State volleyball team to cap off their 50th season as a program than clinching the Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship on their final home game.

Home is where the heart is, but for the Redhawks, it's also where the wins are. SEMO went 8-1 in Houck Field House while also going 7-7 on the road and 3-4 in neutral sites.

The Redhawks will host the OVC Tournament on Sunday-Tuesday, Nov. 24-26, looking to return to the title game for the fifth time in six seasons and win the championship for the first time since 2021, the last time SEMO hosted the tournament.

It helps that the Redhawks will host the tournament given their success at home this season. It's because of those splits that made the 2024 season feel like such a comeback story for the Redhawks. While the volleyball season started on Aug. 30, the Redhawks had to wait until Oct 2 to play as the home team.

A season full of promise was put into question early on. The Redhawks started 2024 with four tournaments but left with a 3-8 record. By the time of their home opener, the Redhawks were 4-9 and facing an uphill climb despite the fresh conference start.

“We struggled a little bit in the beginning," SEMO sophomore outside hitter Lucy Arndt said, "so to come out and prove everyone wrong is amazing."

In proving everyone wrong, the Redhawks ended up proving them right in the end. SEMO has long been the standard barrier of the conference, having been at the OVC Tournament in 13 of the last 14 seasons. The Redhawks were picked to win their 11th conference title before the start of this season, edging defending champion Eastern Illinois by a 167-166 point margin.

“It's honestly been a whirlwind of a season," Head coach Julie Yankus said. "To see where we came from the very first weekend of the season and how much we struggled and just tried to figure out what was the right mix. We have 12 new players on this team, so to go and be predicted to finish first and do that with 12 new people on the team is pretty amazing.”

It's funny to look back on it now considering Eastern Illinois has fallen to the bottom of the standings with a 9-19 record and missed the cut for the OVC Tournament.

A team to look out for is Lindenwood, who finished second in the regular season standings and split with the Redhawks. The Lions, who are growing as a worthy in-state conference rival to SEMO, are still in the process of reclassifying to Division I. While they are eligible to win the championship, the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament will go to the runner-up, should they win it all.

Meaning if SEMO and Lindenwood both win in the semifinals on Monday, the Redhawks will automatically return to the NCAA Tournament.

No. 1 SEMO will start its tournament run against No. 8 Tennessee State on Sunday, Nov. 24, at 4 p.m.

“We know everyone's going to want to come and beat us,” Arndt said. “I think that's really going to help us."