Southeast Missouri State soccer team clinches spot in OVC tournament

The Southeast Missouri State soccer team clinched a berth in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament by routing host Tennessee Tech 5-1 on Friday for its first road win of the season.

Southeast had scored just two goals while going 0-5-1 away from Houck Stadium before exploding Friday. The Redhawks are 3-0-1 in their last four games.

The Redhawks (5-9-4, 4-3-2 OVC) are tied for fourth in the 11-team league with one game left. The top six finishers qualify for the OVC tournament. Southeast can finish no worse than tied for fifth.

Sophomore Kasey Crowden, a Jackson High School graduate, scored her first two collegiate goals for Southeast.

"We spent a little time with Kasey making sure that she is as technical as possible striking the ball," Southeast coach Heather Nelson said in a release. "She has been dangerous in a lot of games, but her shots were around the crossbar. She made the best of her opportunities today."

Sophomore Torey Byrd also scored twice, giving her a team-leading five goals this year.

"Torey got her goals off of hard work," Nelson said in the release. "She also did a great job in the air in midfield. She was the most dominant player on both sides in the air today."

Senior Hayley Abbott added Southeast's other goal, her second of the season.

Abbott also had an assist, as did junior Amy Ward, junior Jacey Boyko, freshman Paige Luehmann and freshman Jenn Collingridge.

Southeast outshot Tech (5-11-1, 3-6) 18-11. Senior keeper Renee Kertz made four saves in the nets for the Redhawks.

The Redhawks end the regular season at Jacksonville State today. The OVC tournament begins Thursday at Tennessee-Martin, which has clinched at least a share of the regular-season championship.

Cross country

Southeast had a strong showing at Saturday's OVC meet in Jacksonville, Ala.

Southeast's men finished third for the second straight year. They had 76 points, just behind runner-up Eastern Illinois' 70 points.

Nationally-ranked Eastern Kentucky won its seventh straight OVC men's title, blitzing the 12-team field with 17 points.

Southeast's women were fifth among 12 squads with 149 points. Eastern Kentucky won with 44 points, followed by Belmont (61), Eastern Illinois (64) and Murray State (94).

"The OVC is getting more and more competitive each year," Southeast coach Ryan Lane said in a release. "The team as a whole had 14 personal records, so we ran great."

Southeast senior Nate Shipley earned his third straight top-10 OVC finish, recording a personal-best time of 24 minutes, 54 seconds over 8 kilometers. Shipley earned second-team all-OVC honors (the top seven runners make first team, with the next seven being placed on the second team).

Senior Alex Zisser also made second-team all-OVC with a 12th-place finish (25:06).

Rounding out Southeast's men's scoring runners were junior Brent Collins (16th, 25:20), junior Charles Johnson (18th, 25:23) and sophomore Craig Munie (22nd, 25:30).

On the women's side, Southeast sophomore Rebekah Lawson recorded her second straight top-10 OVC finish. She nabbed first-team all-OVC accolades by placing seventh with a time of 17:33 over 5 kilometers.

Rounding out the Redhawks' scoring runners were sophomore Gloria Westlake (25th, 18:26), sophomore Jenny Govero (35th, 18:44), freshman Lindsey Seabaugh from Jackson High School (40th, 18:50) and freshman Maria Trowbridge (42nd, 18:53).

Two more local high school graduates also participated for the Redhawks: freshman Laura Chavez from Central (44th, 18:56) and sophomore Mary Dohogne from Central (51st, 19:10).

Southeast runners still has one meet left, the NCAA Midwest Regional Nov. 9 in Springfield, Mo.

Volleyball

Southeast suffered its first conference home loss of the season and their first loss to an OVC West Division opponent Saturday, but the Redhawks still lead the OVC West.

Southeast (17-11, 9-3 OVC) swept visiting SIU Edwardsville 25-23, 25-23, 25-18 on Friday night, before falling to Eastern Illinois 25-18, 13-25, 25-20, 17-25, 15-10 on Saturday afternoon.

Senior Brittney Kalinoski led Southeast against SIUE with 14 kills. She added 15 digs.

Junior Emily Coon had 12 kills, junior libero Berkley Idel recorded 25 digs, and junior setter Julie Shives posted 32 assists.

Junior Colleen Yarber paced the Redhawks with 18 kills against EIU. She also had 15 digs.

Shives recorded 41 assists and a season-high 20 digs. Redshirt freshman Taylor Masterson added nine kills and five blocks.

Also notching double-figure digs were Idel with 19 and senior Karlee Lursen with 14.

Southeast, which has four conference matches left, returns to action Friday at Murray State.

-- From staff reports