Otahks rally again, knock off AP for fourth straight conference

After a back-and-forth opening game that saw Austin Peay edge Southeast Missouri State University 30-28, the Otahkians came out fired up and swept the next three games to capture their fourth straight Ohio Valley Conference win at home Saturday.

Southeast (10-9, 5-2 OVC) rallied after losing Game 1 for the second day in a row. The Otahkians needed four games to defeat Tennessee Tech a day earlier.

Otahkians coach Cindy Gannon said her team played strong but must take care of their opening-game problems.

"We just kind of wait and see what tempo they're going to establish," she said. "We need to establish the tempo."

Southeast came out smoking in the second game, taking a commanding lead early behind the serving of senior Emily Wahlman. Wahlman had three service aces in the second game.

Despite a small rally late in the game, the Otahkians had no problems holding on for a 30-18 Game 2 win.

Austin Peay coach Cheryl Holt said her team just couldn't compete with Southeast's hitters.

"SEMO's tough," she said. "Everybody goes up and hits hard. They did an awesome job."

In the pivotal Game 3, the Otahkians fell behind early before charging out to a 19-14 lead. Although Austin Peay (5-12, 2-5) wouldn't go away, Southeast kept up the pressure and finished off the Govs on Jessica Houpt's only block of the match to take the game 30-23.

With a 2-1 lead going into Game 4, the Otahkians would not let Austin Peay back into the match. Senior hitter Emily Johnson stamped out Austin Peay's hopes with a booming kill as Southeast rolled 30-20.

Johnson led the way for Southeast with 23 kills and 13 digs. Saturday's double-double marked her second straight game with a double-double, and her ninth this season.

Holt said her team just couldn't put any thing together late in the match.

"We had chances, we just made too many mistakes," she said.

Bobbi Carlile and Sarah Frost also had strong games for Southeast, with 20 and 12 kills respectively. Emily Scannell had 64 assists.

Johnson said Southeast finally is playing together as a team and with consistency.

"We have to play together and be on top of our game," she said.

jjoffray@semissourian.com

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