Southeast Missouri State roundup: Redhawks women's soccer team wins OVC opener

The Southeast Missouri State women's soccer team started Ohio Valley Conference play with an impressive win that avenged a season-ending loss.

Southeast beat host Austin Peay 3-1 on Friday night in Clarksville, Tenn. The Governors knocked off the Redhawks in last year's OVC tournament semifinals.

The Redhawks improved to 5-2-1 overall, while the Govs dropped to 6-4. Austin Peay entered with the OVC's best overall record and the nation's third-highest scoring attack at 3.78 goals per game.

Freshman Erin Shulman was Southeast's star, scoring two second-half unassisted goals. She has a team-high seven goals this season and has scored the game-winning goal in three of the five victories.

"The entire team picked up their game in the second half," Southeast coach Heather Nelson said. "Erin was very dangerous offensively. In addition to the two goals, she hit a couple of crossbars and the keeper made a great save on another. She was outstanding tonight."

Southeast Missouri State's Holly Reynolds hits the ball over Tennessee Tech's Christine Macy on Saturday.

It barely took 10 minutes for the Redhawks to score their first goal in three games when senior Lauren Bozesky lifted a cross that set up junior Ali Bauer for her first goal of the year.

Austin Peay tied the contest late in the opening half on a corner kick, sending the squads to the break deadlocked 1-1.

Shulman then took over, scoring twice in a span of 2 minutes, 17 seconds.

Shulman's first tally, a blast from 25 yards out, put the Redhawks back on top about five minutes into the second half.

Shulman came up with a loose ball and found the net to make it 3-1 a little more than two minutes later.

The Govs threatened later in the second half and appeared to pull within a goal off a free kick in the 78th minute, but an offsides call negated the tally. Southeast turned it up defensively the rest of the way, yielding only one more shot over the final 11-plus minutes.

"There were about 20 minutes in the second half where they outplayed us," Nelson said. "We defended well for the most part. The goal they scored came on a header off a corner. Austin Peay is a good team that is very well organized. This is a great result for us to get."

Austin Peay held an 17-11 advantage in shots. Southeast sophomore keeper Ashton Aubuchon recorded six saves.

The Redhawks have another OVC road game today at Murray State.

Volleyball

The Southeast volleyball team continued its strong OVC start by winning a pair of home matches. The Redhawks improved to 6-10 overall and 4-1 in league play.

Southeast beat Jacksonville State 25-15, 27-25, 16-25, 25-23 on Friday and Tennessee Tech 25-18, 25-20, 20-25, 25-12 on Saturday.

"We have been playing as a unit and people are pulling their own weight, and that has really helped us in OVC play," first-year Southeast coach Julie Folliard said. "Players are stepping up at the right moment."

Junior Karlee Lursen recorded a season-high 19 kills while adding 19 digs against Jacksonville State.

"Karlee swung away all night for us," Folliard said. "She played confident and it showed."

Sophomore setter Julie Shives recorded 42 assists, 11 digs and seven kills.

Also reaching double figures in digs were junior Samantha Lowman with 17, sophomore Andrea Baylin with 13 and senior Paige Dossey with 12. Sophomore Emily Coon added nine kills.

Lursen again led the way against Tech with 17 kills and 16 digs. Junior Brittney Kalinoski had 16 kills, followed by Coon with 10. Coon added five blocks.

Shives posted 44 assists and a team-high 19 digs. Dossey added 11 digs and seven kills, while Lowman contributed 11 digs.

Southeast returns to action Friday at OVC opponent Tennessee-Martin.

Cross country

The Southeast cross country teams both placed third among seven squads at Saturday's Saluki Invitational in Carbondale, Ill.

Max Wieser, a Saxony Lutheran High School graduate, led the men by finishing 23rd. He completed the 8-kilometer race in 28 minutes, 6 seconds.

Nate Shipley was 25th (28:16), Brent Collins 26th (28:17), Ryan Anderson 28th (28:29) and Craig Munie 30th (28:41).

Rebekah Lawson paced the women, finishing 22nd in 20:46 over the 5-kilometer course.

Jessica Bollinger was 23rd (20:47), Gloria Westlake 25th (20:52), Scott City graduate Melanie Lacey 29th (21:21) and Jenny Govero 30th.

Southeast is back in action Saturday at the Greater Louisville Classic.

Food drive

Southeast will hold a canned food drive titled "Redhawks Rally Against Hunger" during several athletic events at Houck Stadium during Family Weekend.

The drive will benefit the Southeast Missouri Food Bank and the food bank for Joplin (Mo.) tornado relief.

Food will be collected at the soccer game vs. Eastern Illinois at 6:30 p.m. Friday, the football game vs. Eastern Illinois at 6 p.m. Saturday and the soccer game vs. SIU-Edwardsville at 1 p.m. Oct. 2.

Items may be placed in collection bins at entrances on the north and south sides of Houck Stadium. Those making a donation will receive a ticket for free popcorn.

-- From staff reports