It's not as if Southeast Missouri State University's volleyball team needed any extra motivation to win the Ohio Valley Conference championship.

But the Otahkians recently received some anyway when they were picked to fall short of a fifth straight OVC title this year. In a close vote by the league's head coaches, Southeast was tabbed for second just behind Eastern Illinois.

Which is just fine with coach Cindy Gannon, who said Friday during the Otahkians' annual media day that she will definitely use that preseason poll as a motivational tool.

"We're picked second, which is fine with me," said a smiling Gannon. "But we're definitely going to use that for motivation.

"Even on campus, there has been talk like `well, you guys lost five seniors, so this is a rebuilding year.' Even in a rebuilding year, you can win. We're going to prove that."

There is no denying that the Otahkians were battered by graduation, losing four standout starters in Theresa Sebacher, Erin Willrich, Leanne Huffman and Susie Thompson.

But Gannon has built Southeast volleyball into the program that all other OVC teams are measured against and she doesn't expect much of a dropoff, if any at all.

Entering her ninth season as the Otahkians' head coach, Gannon has led Southeast to a dazzling 63-5 record in OVC play over the last four years. The Otahkians have won four straight OVC regular-season titles and last year advanced to the NCAA Division I Tournament for the first time ever.

"We're going to miss the seniors we lost," said Gannon, whose team went 28-8 overall last year and a perfect 18-0 in OVC play. "But this group is determined to uphold our OVC tradition.

"With the players returning and the newcomers, I think we have a good chance to defend our OVC title."

It's not as if the cupboard is totally bare for the Otahkians, who open the 1997 season next weekend in the Southwest Missouri State Tournament.

Back from last year is all-star setter Tuba Meto, the 1996 OVC Player of the Year. One of only two seniors on the team, Meto had 1,555 assists, 400 digs and 302 kills last season.

"What Tuba has done for our program is outstanding," Gannon said.

Meto likes the prospects for this year's squad, even though she acknowledged that it will be difficult to replace all the talent that graduated.

"Nobody expects us to be like last year, but I think we'll be okay," she said. "I think we'll have another good team."

The other most experienced player back from last year is sophomore middle blocker Angie Aschoff, who had 196 kills and 277 digs as a freshman to earn a spot on the OVC All-Newcomer team.

Also back from the 1996 team are senior Nicole Gonzalez, juniors Cathy Prichard and Mandy Edgington and sophomores Jackie Derwort and Donya Hill.

Gannon will also be counting on several newcomers, including junior Kimberly Aggertt and four freshmen: former Bernie High all-stater Erin Holt, Rachelle Knapp, Krista Haukap and Kandi Candelarie.

Aggert, the Otahkians' tallest player at 6-feet-1, earned junior-college Academic All-American honors last year for an Illinois Central Community College team that finished fifth in the nation.

"I know I say this all the time, but this is the hardest-working group I've had," said Gannon. "I think we'll have another very good season."

OTAHKIAN NOTES: The Otahkians will have two matches Friday in the season-opening Southwest Missouri State Tournament in Springfield, facing Butler at 10 a.m. and Saint Louis at 3 p.m. They will have two more matches the following day...

Southeast's first home match will be Sept. 18 against Middle Tennessee State.