Area digest 11/17/03

Turner picked as week's top OVC defensive player

O.J. Turner, a junior defensive back at Southeast Missouri State University, was chosen Sunday as the Ohio Valley Conference's defensive player of the week.

Turner had 12 tackles -- two for loss -- in Southeast's 24-20 win Saturday at Tennessee Tech. He also had an interception and broke up another pass.

Other OVC players of the week were Eastern Kentucky receiver Andre Ralston (offense), EKU quarterback Matt Guice (newcomer) and Jacksonville State punter Richie Rhodes (special teams).

Southeast volleyball team closes with loss

Southeast's volleyball team closed its regular season Saturday with a 30-23, 25-30, 30-25, 30-23 loss at Tennessee-Martin.

The Otahkians, after having a six-match winning streak, ended the season with two straight losses. Southeast (11-18 overall, 10-16 OVC) finished in a three-way tie for third place. Because of tie-breakers, Southeast is the No. 3 seed for the six-team OVC Tournament in Morehead, Ky. The Otahkians play No. 6 Murray State in the first round at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Against Tennessee-Martin (7-25, 5-11), freshman Jessica Wilfong led in kills with 15 kills, followed by Suzanne Gundlach (14), Sarah Frost (12) and Jamie Baumstark (10). Jill Miller had 14 digs and Emily Scannell recorded 40 assists.

-- From staff reports