Otahkians hoping for resurrection

Southeast Missouri State University's volleyball team posted its lowest-ever Ohio Valley Conference regular-season finish this year.

But entering the OVC Tournament that begins Friday in Martin, Tenn., Otahkian coach Cindy Gannon is not ruling out the possibility of her squad coming alive at just the right time.

The Otahkians (14-13 overall, 10-6 OVC), seeded fourth after placing fourth in the nine-team league, will face fifth-seeded Austin Peay (15-12, 8-8) at 1 p.m. Friday in a first-round match of the six-team tournament.

A Southeast victory would send the Otahkians into a 7 p.m. semifinal match Friday against top-seeded and host Tennessee-Martin (24-7, 14-2).

Friday's other opening-round contest pits No. 3 Morehead State (22-9, 12-4) against No. 6 Eastern Kentucky (12-14, 7-9) at 10 a.m. No. 2 Eastern Illinois (19-8, 12-4) joined UT-Martin in receiving a first-round bye. The finals will be at noon Saturday.

"I've said all along that there has been a lot of parity in the OVC," said Gannon. "I honestly think all six teams have the potential to win it. Our attitude is we feel like we've got as good a shot as anybody else. We've just run into some bumps over the course of the season that hopefully we've learned from and will make us a better team.

"I've considered us to be young and now we've taken the approach that it's a brand-new season. We're going to try and overcome our youth and go in with the attitude that anybody can take the tournament."

Southeast has been by far the OVC's dominant program since joining the conference in 1991. The Otahkians won eight OVC regular-season championships during their first 10 years in the league and they also captured five OVC tourney titles.

But Gannon, whose squad's previous low OVC finish was third place, knew things would not be easy for the Otahkians this year. They graduated arguably the league's top two players in Krista Haukap and Lea Beckemeyer from last season's team that rolled through the conference with a 16-0 record.

"With only one senior, and not much experience back, we knew it would be a learning process," she said.

Gannon is hoping that the Otahkians, who have made three straight NCAA appearances, will benefit from the experience of playing in -- and winning -- the past three OVC Tournament title matches.

"The good thing about our team is we've been in this situation before," she said. "We've been in the championship the last few years. Even though a lot of these girls didn't play in those matches, they were on the team. Hopefully that will help us."

Southeast's statistical leaders have been sophomore setter Emily Scannell, who is third in the OVC in both assists and service aces; junior Bobbi Carlile, who is fourth in kills and tied for seventh in aces; junior Jessica Houpt, who is seventh in hitting percentage; and junior Emily Wahlman, who ranks seventh in blocks.