Southeast Missouri State roundup: Redhawks endure first conference soccer loss

The Southeast Missouri State soccer team suffered its first Ohio Valley Conference loss of the season Friday night.

Defending OVC champion Morehead State scored a late goal to beat the Redhawks 2-1 in Morehead, Ky.

Southeast, which fell to 8-3-1 overall and 4-1 in OVC play, remained in first place in the league. The Eagles are 6-4-1 and 2-1-1.

The Redhawks dominated the first half, owning a 12-5 advantage in shots.

But MSU jumped on top in the 26th minute when Brittany Kiracofe fired a shot from about 30 yards out to the top corner.

Southeast continued to put pressure on MSU's defense and broke through with less than five minutes left in the opening period. Junior Ali Bauer fired in a rebound off a corner kick by sophomore Jacey Boyko to forge a 1-1 tie at the intermission.

"We were pretty sharp in the first half," Southeast coach Heather Nelson said. "Our intensity was good and we created a number of good scoring opportunities. However, it would have been nice if we scored more than the one goal with the opportunities we had."

MSU outshot Southeast 7-4 in the final period. Lindsey Oettle snapped the tie with just more than 15 minutes left by chipping in a shot off a deflection.

Southeast outshot MSU 16-12 and had a 7-2 edge in corner kicks.

"I give credit to Morehead State for coming out with intensity in the second half and creating the go-ahead goal," Nelson said.

The Redhawks played without freshman forward Erin Shulman, their leading scorer with nine goals. She suffered an ankle injury last weekend.

Southeast remains on the road to face Eastern Kentucky today. The Colonels are second in the OVC and would overtake the Redhawks with a victory.

"I expect that we will come out with a lot of character at Eastern Kentucky," Nelson said.

Volleyball

The Southeast volleyball team split a pair of five-game OVC matches on the road.

Southeast rallied past Austin Peay 16-25, 33-31, 23-25, 25-16, 15-9 on Friday before Tennessee State rallied for a 25-22, 19-25, 22-25, 25-21, 15-11 victory Saturday.

Southeast is 8-12 overall and 6-3 in OVC play. The Redhawks are tied with TSU for third in the 11-team league.

The Redhawks recorded a season-high 17 blocks and tied a season high with 94 digs against Austin Peay.

"We had a great defensive night after the first set," Southeast coach Julie Folliard said. "We were very scrappy and learned their tendencies. We were in the right spots and read the right reads, and that led to blocks."

Sophomore setter Julie Shives dished out 49 assists and had a career-high 23 digs.

Junior outside hitter Brittney Kalinoski also had a career night with 17 kills. She added 10 digs.

Junior outside hitter Karlee Lursen added 15 kills and 15 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Emily Coon had a career-high 10 blocks and eight kills.

Freshman middle blocker Kelsey Keeve tied a career high with 10 kills and added five blocks.

"Kelsey did great," Folliard said. "She didn't play like a freshman. She was great at the net for us tonight."

Junior libero Samantha Lowman recorded 17 digs. Senior outside hitter Paige Dossey had 11 digs, and sophomore outside hitter Andrea Baylin added 10 digs. Senior middle blocker Holly Reynolds posted five blocks.

Coon had another big block match with nine against TSU. Lursen added five blocks.

Lursen led in kills with 11, followed by Kalinoski with 10 and Coon with nine.

Shives recorded 34 assists and 14 digs. Lowman also had 14 digs, and Lursen added 10.

Southeast returns to action Friday when it hosts Eastern Kentucky at 6:30 p.m.

Softball

The Southeast softball program has earned recognition as a National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Academic Team for the 12th consecutive year.

The Redhawks tied for 84th nationally with a 3.190 grade-point average for the 2010-11 academic year.

Southeast was among six OVC softball programs ranked in the top 100, paced by national leader Tennessee Tech with a 3.619 GPA.

-- From staff reports