Redhawks take a set from OVC champ JSU, head into tourney

The Southeast Missouri State volleyball team lost its regular-season finale at Jacksonville State on Saturday, but the Redhawks became the first OVC team this season to take a set from the Gamecocks.

Jacksonville State posted a 30-21, 22-30, 30-26, 30-23 victory to wrap up OVC play at 16-0 and finish 22-4 overall. Emily Withers had 61 assists for the Gamecocks in the match, which allowed Jacksonville State to have the seventh perfect run through the OVC.

Southeast Missouri prevented Jacksonville State from sweeping the entire OVC slate of sets by taking the second set. That ended the Gamecocks' streak of 49 consecutive games won, which was the longest active streak in the nation.

JSU has a school-record 17 straight match wins and has won 51 of its last 52 sets.

Jessica Koeper led Southeast with 23 kills and 18 digs.

Southeast, which finished 8-8 in the OVC and tied Tennessee Tech for sixth place, grabbed the No. 6 seed for the conference tournament, which Jacksonville State will host.

The Gamecocks and No. 2 Tennessee State will receive byes.

Southeast plays 6 p.m. Thursday against No. 3 Murray State. That match follows the opener between Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State.

If Southeast wins, its second game would be 3:30 p.m. Friday against Tennessee State. The championship match is 2 p.m. Saturday.

Southeast runners 20th

The Southeast Missouri State men's cross country team finished 20th among the 21 full teams that competed in the NCAA Midwest Regionals at the University of Minnesota.

Junior Brandon Karcher led the Redhawks with an 82nd-place finish in 33 minutes, 13.39 seconds on the 10-kilometer course. Senior Chris Herren was 92nd in 33:32.84; freshman Jamie Lee was 115th in 34:12.39; freshman Dustin Davis was 125th in 34:84.64; junior Danny Stults was 134th in 35:05.49; and sophomore Tom Kinder was 151st in 37:12.59.

Oklahoma State won the team meet.