SEMO VOLLEYBALL NOTCHES KEY WIN

Southeast Missouri State University's volleyball team failed in its bid to set a new Ohio Valley Conference attendance record Friday night, but the Otahkians were still able to come away with a huge victory.

A `Pack the House Night' promotion at Houck Field House was designed for the Otahkians to try and break the OVC attendance mark of 1,261, set last season by Tennessee Tech.

The attendance figure Friday night was 525 and those fans saw the Otahkians down Middle Tennessee State 15-9, 15-10, 16-18, 15-6 in a key OVC match.

Earlier Friday, also at Houck, the Otahkians rolled past winless Tennessee State 15-2, 15-2, 15-2.

Southeast improved to 16-11 overall and 9-2 in OVC play as the Otahkians moved into first place. Middle Tennessee fell to 20-6 overall, 8-3 in the OVC. Tennessee State is 0-22.

Leanne Huffman and Susie Thompson paced the Otahkians offensively against Middle Tennessee as they hammered down 21 and 20 kills, respectively. Theresa Sebacher added 11 kills while Erin Willrich had 10.

Huffman also led the way defensively with 21 digs, followed by Thompson and Cathy Prichard with 17 apiece.

Willrich and Ami Mitchell both had six block assists, followed by Sebacher with four and Huffman with three.

Setter Tuba Meto dished out 58 assists to go with 13 digs and four service aces.

Yanira Santiago had a match-high 29 kills for the Lady Raiders.

In the rout over Tennessee State, which is coached by former Southeast assistant Dave Schwepker, the Otahkians needed only 35 kills as a team against the outmanned Lady Tigers.

The Otahkians return to action today with a 2 p.m. match against Tennessee Tech at Houck Field House.