Southeast continued its recent strong play in a four-set win over Tennessee-Martin. ~ Southeast Missourian

A young Southeast Missouri State University volleyball team found itself in dangerous territory heading into the last three weeks of the season.

Southeast, which features three freshman, three sophomores and two juniors in its rotation, was sitting at 5-6 and near the middle of the pack in Ohio Valley Conference play with five matches left on the schedule.

Entering the weekend, Southeast was still on the bubble, sitting in sixth place with only six teams qualifying for the OVC tournament. But with back-to-back wins, capped off by Saturday's 30-24, 22-30, 30-26, 30-26 win over Tennessee Martin in front of 221 fans at Houck Field House, Southeast secured its bid in the OVC tournament with a 9-7 OVC record.

"I think they stepped up and showed a lot of promise," Southeast coach Cindy Gannon said. "They're young, but they've experienced some wins at the end which is only going to help us out."

Southeast finished its regular season 11-16 overall. With a 9-7 OVC record, Southeast pulled into a fourth-place tie with Austin Peay.

Eastern Kentucky defeated Austin Peay on Saturday to clinch the top seed and will host the tournament, which gets underway Nov. 19. Eastern Illinois will be seeded second, followed by Jacksonville State. Tennessee-Martin was eliminated with the loss, giving Morehead State the sixth seed after a five-game win over Tennessee-Tech on Saturday. Southeast will likely be seeded fifth.

"Throughout the entire conference there were some big surprises," Southeast setter Jamie Baumstark said. "For us, coming from sixth place to tied for fourth, I think we stepped it up."

Saturday's win followed a similar script to Southeast's four-game win over Murray State on Friday. Southeast used a late run to win the first game, sputtered in the second game, then held on late for narrow wins in games three and four.

"Up and down, up and down. There was pressure on them, but they came through," Gannon said.

By clinching a berth in the OVC tournament, Southeast avoided missing out on its first tournament since joining the conference in 1991. Southeast has won eight regular season titles and five tournament titles.

"There is a lot of pride and tradition here," Baumstark said. "We still want to show people we are a dominant team, and we can play with the best."

Jackson graduate Jessica Koeper led Southeast with 26 kills, and Jill Miller added 13 kills. Defensively, Lauren Scannell led Southeast with 31 digs, Miller had 18 and Koeper had 17. Baumstark finished with 48 assists and added seven digs. Brenna Schlader had three stuff-blocks.

Leigh Reiniche led the Skyhawks with 18 kills and 31 digs. Rebecca Palmer had 17 kills and Kathryn Sprague had 10 .

Southeast honored seniors Ashley Smith and Kristen McElroy before the final home match and the players' parents during the match.