COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL: OTAHKS SEE FIRST NCAA DIVISION I TOURNEY WIN

Southeast Missouri State University volleyball coach Cindy Gannon believes this just might be the year her team finally wins its first NCAA Division I Tournament match.

Today, Gannon will find out if she is right as the Otahkians (22-8) play North Carolina (26-7) at 4 p.m. CST in a first-round tourney match in Gainesville, Fla.

Host Florida (27-4) plays Arkansas-Little Rock (23-6) in today's other match of the four-team sub-regional. Today's winners square off Friday, with that winner moving on to the four-team Pacific Regional at a site to be determined.

Gannon knows beating Atlantic Coast Conference champion North Carolina won't be easy. But she thinks the Otahkians have their best chance yet of winning an NCAA Tournament match after losing first-round contests three times.

"North Carolina is a very young team and I think this is our best chance to get a first-round win," said Gannon. "On paper, it looks like we match up well. And my team is very confident right now. Our kids aren't just talking about being in the tournament, they're talking about winning."

The Otahkians, who have been in the NCAA tourney three straight years and four of the past six, came ever so close to finally getting their first win last season when they very nearly stunned Loyola-Marymount.

After losing to Loyola-Marymount in three games early in the regular season, the Otahkians took the Lions to the limit before losing 20-18 in the fifth and deciding game.

"We came so close last year. We almost won the match," Gannon said. "Last year we progressed so much from early in the season and I think this team has done the same thing.

"This team has surprised me all year long. To go through our league (the Ohio Valley Conference) undefeated was quite an accomplishment and we've just gotten better and better."

Leading the Otahkians' quest for their first NCAA victory will be the dynamic one-two combination of senior outside hitters Krista Haukap and Lea Beckemeyer.

Haukap, the OVC Player of the Year, led the league in kills for the second straight season with 5.5 per game. Beckemeyer, like Haukap a first-team all-OVC selection, was second in the conference in kills with 5.29 per game. They also rank among the national leaders in kills, with Haukap 11th and Beckemeyer 15th.

Running the Otahkians' has been setter Emily Scannell, the OVC Freshman of the Year who leads the league and ranks eighth nationally in assists with 14.35 per game.

North Carolina's balanced attack is led by freshman Nicole Reis (4.55 kills per game), senior Casey Simpson (3.90) and sophomore Laura Greene (3.84). Sophomore setter Eve Rackhman averages 13.54 assists per game.

Despite her team's current 18-match winning streak, Gannon realizes the Otahkians are decided underdogs heading into today's match. Still, she likes their chances.

"The maturity level of our and speed of our game have just gotten so much better," she said. "We've progressed so much over the season and I really think we can win."