Redhawks hold off Eastern Illinois for conference victory

~ Southeast posted a four-set victory over the OVC's last-place team.

Southeast Missouri State volleyball coach Renata Nowacki sees plenty of potential in her team, just not enough consistency right now.

Wednesday night's Ohio Valley Conference match was a case in point as the Redhawks showed flashes of strong play but also struggled at times in beating last-place Eastern Illinois.

The Redhawks overcame a slow start to post a 22-30, 30-20, 30-26, 30-25 victory at Houck Field House.

Southeast improved to 9-9 overall and 3-2 in OVC play. EIU fell to 5-11 and 0-5 as the Panthers suffered their 10th consecutive loss.

"I see tons of glimpses. We're just not real consistent," said Nowacki, whose squad is fifth in the 11-team OVC. "We just need to put it all together, but I think we'll get there."

So do the Redhawks, who couldn't agree more with their coach.

"We're up and down right now," said senior outside hitter Jessica Koeper from Jackson High School. "We just have to be more consistent."

The Redhawks had trouble shaking the struggling Panthers all night. After dropping the first game and winning the second game handily, the final two games were tight.

Southeast led just 27-26 in the third game before scoring the final three points. The Redhawks trailed most of the way in the fourth game, pulled into a 23-23 tie and then scored seven of the last nine points.

"We had a very slow start but we came up with the win," Koeper said. "That's all that matters."

Koeper, Southeast's kill leader, powered home 26 against the Panthers with a strong .408 attack percentage. Koeper added 17 digs for a double-double.

Junior Brittany Hastings and senior setter Jamie Baumstark both also posted double-doubles. Hastings had 12 kills and 10 digs, while Baumstark recorded 47 assists and 10 digs. Baumstark just missed a triple-double as she had nine kills.

Freshman Hannah Weis added a college career-high 10 kills, and freshman Molly Davis continued her strong rookie campaign with 18 digs. She and Koeper are tied for the team lead in digs.

"We started slow, but we came back," Davis said. "It was a total team effort."

Junior Brenna Schlader added nine kills and six blocks for the Redhawks.

The Panthers were paced by Eliza Zwettler with 14 kills and 17 digs.

Nowacki credited the enthusiastic crowd estimated at 175 for helping Southeast avoid an upset.

"The fans helped us get that win," she said. "People wonder if the home court is really important in volleyball. Absolutely, with the kind of fans we have."

Southeast will try to push its overall record above the .500 mark for the first time this season Friday when Tennessee Tech (4-11, 1-3) visits Houck for a 7 p.m. match.