Mathis earns OVC defensive accolade

Southeast Missouri State University's football team could not quite pull off an upset at Eastern Michigan Saturday night as the Division I-A Eagles scored late to rally past the I-AA Indians 16-12.

But despite the setback, Southeast linebacker Corey Mathis made enough of an impression in the Indians' season opener to nab the first Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week honor for the 2001 campaign.

Mathis, a speedy senior, had a team-high 12 tackles, including three for loss, and he also recorded a quarterback sack.

Last year, Mathis had 19 tackles for loss to rank 16th nationally as he earned second-team All-OVC honors. He was selected to this year's All-OVC preseason first team.

Tennessee State quarterback Shannon Harris claimed the first OVC Offensive Player of the Week honor for this season as he completed 21 of 39 passes for 291 yards and four touchdowns during a 27-6 win over Alabama A&M.

Southeast will have its home opener Saturday as Southern Illinois visits Houck Stadium for a 6 p.m. kickoff.

Soccer nabs co-title

Southeast's women's soccer squad capped off a highly successful opening weekend of action by routing Jacksonville (Ala.) State 4-0 Sunday during the final day of the Otahkians' four-team tournament.

The Otahkians, who had beaten Belmont (Tenn.) 3-0 in Friday's tourney and season opener, finished as co-champions of the tournament, along with Ball State. Ball State also won both its games in the two-day event.

Stephanie Bleau, Erin Slattery, Lauren Zacheis and Nichole Thiele all scored goals for the Otahkians against Jacksonville State while Erika Todd contributed four assists. Beth Guccione was forced to make just one save in earning the shutout.

Thiele and Slattery each had two goals in the tournament while Guccione recorded both shutouts.

Southeast will be back in action Friday when Arkansas-Little Rock comes to Houck Stadium for a 2 p.m. contest.

Volleyball goes 1-2

Southeast's volleyball team opened its season by going 1-2 over the weekend in the Lamar Tournament in Beaumont, Texas.

The Otahkians' lone victory came Saturday over Louisiana Tech 31-29, 30-27, 30-22.

Bobbi Carlile had 21 kills and 17 digs to lead the way. Jessica Houpt added 12 kills while Emily Scannell had 38 assists and 11 digs.

Southeast's losses in the tourney were to Wichita State 30-24, 26-30, 24-30, 31-29, 15-13 and Lamar 30-21, 31-29, 30-20.

Carlile had 18 kills against Wichita State and Emily Johnson had 13 kills against Lamar.

The Otahkians will compete in the Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panther Classic this weekend.

Runners claim title

Southeast's women's cross country team began its season Saturday by winning the Plough Park Invitational in Memphis, Tenn., for the second straight year. The Otahkians finished with 27 points.

Kaci Pilcher took home the individual title as all eight Otahkian runners placed in the top 18. Christy Williams was fourth, Amy Arteme seventh, Jessie Thompson eighth, Kris Woolf 10th, Jen Burke 11th, Anna Verseman 12th and Kimberly Kreiger 18th.

On the men's side, Southeast tied for second place with Mississippi as host Memphis won the title.

For the Indians, Blake Popp was sixth while Jared Tanz placed seventh. Danny Copeland, Brian Whitehead and Gabe Austin wound up 11th, 20th and 35th, respectively.

Both Southeast squads will run in Saturday's Murray State Invitational.