Redhawks spikers capture five-game thriller over Jacksonville State

~ Southeast has won nine of its last 10 matches.

The Southeast Missouri State volleyball team notched probably its biggest win of the season by beating host Jacksonville State on Oct. 13.

Southeast showed that its previous victory over the defending Ohio Valley Conference champion and preseason favorite was no fluke.

In an entertaining match that could hardly have been closer, the Redhawks squeezed out a 26-30, 31-29, 29-31, 30-25, 19-17 triumph Friday night at Houck Field House.

"It was so exciting," Southeast sophomore libero Molly Davis said.

The Redhawks, continuing their late-season surge, improved to 17-11 overall and 12-5 in OVC play.

Southeast, which has won nine of its last 10 matches, moved into a tie with JSU (15-9, 12-5) for third place in the 11-team conference.

The Redhawks trail second-place Murray State by one-half game and league-leading Morehead State by 1 1/2 games.

"It's really sweet [to sweep JSU]," said Southeast coach Renata Nowacki, whose squad has three OVC matches remaining, including today's 5 p.m. home date with Samford. "It was a complete team effort tonight. We're right where we want to be heading into the conference tournament."

After the teams split the first four games, they needed overtime to decide the match.

In a fifth game scheduled to end with the first team to reach 15 points with a two-point advantage, Southeast and JSU took turns rallying.

The Redhawks appeared to be in trouble as they trailed 11-8 and 12-10, but four straight points put Southeast on the verge of nailing down the match.

Back came JSU with three consecutive points to lead 15-14, but Southeast freshman outside hitter Claire Keaton's kill forced a 15-15 deadlock.

Southeast did not trail again. After the game was tied 17-17, sophomore setter Sarah Barth's kill put the Redhawks up 18-17, then a JSU hitting error ended the match.

"I thought we did a good job staying confident and strong," said sophomore outside hitter Karleigh DeLong, who led the Redhawks with 19 kills and added 14 digs.

Junior outside hitter Aubrey Dondlinger had 16 kills and 10 digs.

Barth recorded a triple-double with 55 assists, 19 digs and 10 kills.

"I thought Sarah set an excellent offense," Nowacki said.

Senior middle blocker Brenna Schlader contributed 10 kills and seven blocks. Davis added 15 digs.

Keaton, who is third on the squad in kills -- behind DeLong and Dondlinger -- finished the match with only six kills.

But five of them came in the decisive fifth game, including four after Southeast fell behind 12-10.

"I felt like I wasn't contributing the first few games," said Keaton, who also had 10 digs. "I felt I had to step up."

She did just that.

Abbey Breit, the two-time OVC player of the year, led the Gamecocks with 26 kills.