Redhawks finish second at volleyball tourney

Despite having three of its top players miss most of the tournament, the Southeast Missouri State volleyball team had a strong showing at the Saluki Invitational in Carbondale, Ill.

Southeast placed second in the four-team event after losing to host Southern Illinois 23-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-23 on Saturday night.

Earlier Saturday, the Redhawks (2-4) rallied past Western Illinois 22-25, 24-26, 25-14, 26-24, 15-11.

The Redhawks began the tournament Friday by beating Arkansas State 25-18, 26-24, 20-25, 18-25, 15-8.

All-Ohio Valley Conference hitter Karleigh DeLong and starting setter Sarah Barth missed the tournament with injuries.

Aubrey Dondlinger, like DeLong a preseason all-OVC hitter, saw action in only one game because of an injury.

Claire Keaton helped pick up the hitting slack. She had double-doubles in the first two matches, netting 20 kills and 16 digs against Arkansas State, followed by a career-high 27 kills and 15 digs against Western Illinois.

Keaton again led the Redhawks in kills against SIU with 19.

Amanda Rickhoff had 19 kills against Arkansas State, while Kelly Benacka led in digs with 25 and Alyssa Aston recorded 47 assists.

Emily Hughes had a career-high 17 kills vs. Western Illinois, while Molly Davis recorded a career-best 35 digs. Aston had 51 assists.

Davis matched her career high with 35 digs against SIU. Aston dished out 44 assists.

Southeast returns to action Friday as the Redhawks begin OVC play with a 7 p.m. home match against Eastern Kentucky.

Runners place second

The Southeast men's cross country team placed second out of nine squads during Friday's Eastern Illinois Invitational.

Brandon Karcher's fourth-place finish paced the Redhawks. He timed 25 minutes, 27.99 seconds over 8,000 meters.

Southeast had four other runners in the top 18. Dustin Davis was 11th (26:09.56), Jason Lumpkin 14th (26:15.40), Nate Shipley 16th (26:22.47) and Chris Loseman 18th (26:28.84).

The Redhawks had 57 points, behind champion SIU's 23. Host Eastern Illinois finished third with 102 points.

Southeast's women were fourth among seven teams with 97 points. SIU was first with 18 points, followed by Western Illinois (54) and Evansville (96).

The Redhawks were led by Juli Koenegstein, who was eighth over 5,000 meters in 19:16.43.

Also in the top 30 for Southeast were Linnea Woldvedt (19th, 19:47.71), Monica Noble (21st, 19:50.84) and Kasey Owens (30th, 20:12.35).

— From staff reports