Redhawks volleyball sweeps aside TSU

Southeast Missouri State volleyball coach Renata Nowacki said the Redhawks entered Friday night's match on the heels of "probably our best week of practice."

It showed on the court as the Redhawks rolled past defending Ohio Valley Conference tournament champion Tennessee State.

The Redhawks swept the visiting Tigers 25-13, 25-16, 25-16.

Southeast improved to 7-6 overall and 5-2 in OVC play. The Redhawks are tied for third place in the 10-team conference. TSU fell to 4-10 and 3-4.

"We had an awesome week of practice and it really paid off," said Nowacki, whose squad earned a share of the OVC regular-season title last year. "We really executed our game plan."

Claire Keaton led the Redhawks in kills with 12, against only three errors.

Molly Davis and Karleigh DeLong reached double figures in digs with 12 and 10, respectively.

Setter Sarah Barth dished out 26 assists.

Southeast had an impressive .326 attack percentage, while the Tigers hit just .053.

"Tennessee State is an athletic team, a good team, but we really did a good job," Nowacki said.

The Redhawks will look to put together another strong match today when Austin Peay visits Houck Field House at 2 p.m.

Austin Peay (13-6, 5-2) is tied with Southeast for third place in the OVC.

"They're having a very good season," Nowacki said.

Soccer ties 0-0

The Southeast soccer team has had trouble scoring goals all season, but the Redhawks looked like they might be breaking out of their offensive slump.

Southeast had netted four goals in its previous three games, after scoring just once in its first six contests.

But the drought returned Friday night as the Redhawks and Morehead State battled to a 0-0 tie at Houck Stadium.

The squads went through 90 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods without a goal.

Southeast, last year's OVC regular-season and tournament champion, is 1-6-3 overall and 0-2-2 in conference play. MSU is 5-6-2 and 2-0-2.

Coach Heather Nelson came away fairly pleased with the Redhawks' overall play, except for the fact they created few dangerous shots on goal.

"I think we're going to spend the rest of the season practicing on the final third of the field," Nelson said. "But I think we're starting to play some good soccer.

"I know it's there. We just have to find a way to win."

Neither team had many exceptional scoring opportunities. The Eagles outshot the Redhawks 13-8.

"We need to get more shots off," Nelson said.

Southeast sophomore keeper Jessica Beckham, who has allowed just 11 goals all season, recorded her first collegiate shutout.

Beckham was credited with eight saves. MSU keeper Lily Meisner made five saves in her shutout.

Southeast will play its final regular-season home game Sunday, at 2 p.m. against Eastern Kentucky.

The Redhawks will honor three players on senior day: Casey Kraft, Nicole Bussman and Megan McGrath.