Redhawks have something to prove

Snubbed in all-OVC selections, Southeast takes on Samford today.

BY MARTY MISHOW

Southeast Missourian

Perhaps Southeast Missouri State women's soccer coach Heather Nelson can use the snub for motivation.

As the Redhawks prepared for tonight's semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, they received word Thursday that none of their players made the all-OVC first team.

This despite the fact the Redhawks placed fourth in the 10-team OVC and three squads that finished below them - Austin Peay, Tennessee-Martin and Murray State - combined for four first-team picks, which were chosen by the league's coaches and sports information directors.

"I was surprised," Nelson said Thursday afternoon as she and her squad were traveling to Birmingham, Ala., for tonight's 7 p.m. tournament semifinal against host Samford. "We certainly have players worthy of being on the first team."

Asked whether she might try to use that for extra motivation for her players, Nelson said, "I think so."

Southeast did have four players on the all-conference second team: junior goalkeeper Lindsay Pickering, junior midfielder Margie Schaeffler, senior defender Jessi Wuellner and sophomore defender Casey Kraft.

Pickering was last year's OVC defensive player of the year. She has had another strong season, with eight shutouts and an 0.89 goals-against average. Both figures rank second in the league.

Pickering was beat out on the first team and for defensive player of the year by Morehead State keeper Leslie King, who has a 1.34 goals-against average but leads the league with nine shutouts and ranks 17th nationally with 7.12 saves per game.

King helped lead the Eagles to a surprise second-place OVC finish.

Schaeffler has three goals and six assists. She ranks second in the conference in assists.

Wuellner and Kraft, along with Pickering, helped lead a Southeast defense that has allowed just 15 goals all season. Kraft also has scored two goals.

Southeast also had a representative on the league's all-newcomer team, to which Courtney Alexander was named.

Alexander has had a big rookie season for the Redhawks with team-highs of nine goals and 20 points. She leads the OVC in goals per game and ranks second in points.

"All five are very deserving," Nelson said.

Now the fourth-seeded Redhawks (8-7-2) will set their sights on top-seeded Samford (11-3-3), which has won the past four OVC regular-season titles and also is the defending tournament champion.

Southeast and Samford played to a scoreless tie on Oct. 22 in Birmingham. Prior to that, the Bulldogs had won all four previous meetings between the programs.

Tonight's winner advances to Sunday's final, with that winner earning an automatic NCAA tournament berth.

"It should be another great game," Nelson said. "Our girls are certainly focused and I like our chances."

Second-seeded Morehead State and third-seeded Eastern Illinois meet in today's other semifinal in Birmingham.

Volleyball posts win

The Southeast volleyball team picked up an OVC road win Wednesday night, beating Eastern Illinois 30-22, 30-26, 23-30, 30-27.

Jessica Koeper led the Redhawks (13-15, 7-6) with 18 kills and 22 digs. Brittany Hastings had 17 kills and Brenna Schlader added 13.

Sarah Barth had 50 assists and 20 digs, Molly Davis contributed 23 digs and Sirma Ozenir added 12 digs.

Southeast is in sixth place in the OVC with three matches remaining, all on the road. The top six finishers make the conference tournament.

The Redhawks have a key match Saturday at Tennessee Tech (9-15, 6-6), which is in seventh place and a half-game behind Southeast. The Redhawks won the earlier meeting in Cape Girardeau.