OTAHKS CONFIDENT ENTERING WEEKEND'S OVC TOURNEY

Southeast Missouri State University's volleyball players are confident -- yet not overconfident -- as they prepare for this weekend's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament in Cape Girardeau.

The Otahkians definitely have the right to feel good about their chances because they dominated the league during the regular season, going 17-1 to win their seventh regular-season championship since joining the OVC in 1991.

And as an added boost, the 26-5 Otahkians will carry a 19-match winning streak into the event that will be played Friday and Saturday at Houck Field House. Southeast has not tasted defeat since Sept. 24, when Austin Peay handed the Otahkians their lone OVC loss.

But the Otahkians realize that what has so far been a sensational season would certainly be marred if they fail to prevail this weekend and fail to earn their second straight NCAA Tournament berth, which goes to the winner of the league tourney."This team has been really good about not getting overconfident," said senior setter Amy Henken, who leads the OVC in assists, as she took a break from practice Tuesday. "We're confident, but we're not cocky at all because we know all the other teams will be really wanting to beat us."Southeast coach Cindy Gannon has been quick to drill her players on not taking anybody for granted."Every day we get the speech," said a laughing senior Angie Aschoff, who leads the OVC in hitting percentage. "We're confident, but we're not cocky. We know everybody will be coming in here with motivation to try and beat us on our own floor."Added senior Jackie Derwort with a chuckle, "Coach gives us the speech every day. We know we're human and we can make mistakes, so we're not going to take anybody for granted."Playing the tournament at home is something the Otahkians relish. Although they lost their season and home opener to Arkansas State, that match was at the Show Me Center. Southeast has not been beaten at Houck Field House this season."We love p laying at home. We love when the fans get in the game," said junior Krista Haukap, who leads the OVC in kills. "Our fans support us so well, it's awesome."Said Henken of playing at home, "We've gotten so spoiled with our fans because they come out and support us so well. We really hope we have some big crowds and they really get in the match when we play."Any chance of the Otahkians being overconfident quickly gets dismissed as soon as the players think about what happened two seasons ago. Southeast was in the same situation then, having won the OVC regular-season title to earn the right to host the league tournament. But the Otahkians suffered an upset loss in the semifinals."We can use that loss to our advantage because we don't want that to happen again," said Aschoff.

Derwort remembers how sick a feeling it was to be in Houck Field House for the championship match two years ago."We've talked about it, how we watched the championship game from the stands that year," she said. "That was not a good feeling and we don't want to have it again."Hearing the Otahkians talk about staying focused and not taking any team lightly makes Gannon smile."This team is very focused. It's a very mature group," she said. "We realizes that what happened during the season doesn't matter now. Everybody comes here 0-0."The players remember what happened two years ago. We know we can't overlook anybody. Teams are going to come in here feeling like they have nothing to lose, figuring all the pressure is on us." It's the same scenario as when we played (nationally ranked) Arkansas. We felt like we had nothing to lose and we ended up beating them in three games."

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Six of the OVC's 10 teams qualified for the OVC Tournament. Seeded second behind Southeast is Eastern Illinois (21-9 overall, 15-3 OVC). The top two seeds receive a bye into the semifinals.

Austin Peay (21-10, 13-5) is seeded third, followed by Murray State (18-9, 12-6), Tennessee Tech (13-12, 11-7) and Eastern Kentucky (13-18, 8-10).Friday's first-round matches feature Austin Peay vs. Eastern Kentucky at 10 a.m. and Murray State vs. Tennessee Tech at 2:30 p.m.

In the semifinals Friday, Eastern Illinois plays the winner of Austin Peay-Eastern Kentucky at 4 p.m. and Southeast faces the winner of Murray State-Tennessee Tech at 6:30 p.m.

The championship match is set for noon Saturday.