Southeast Missouri State volleyball picked to finish eighth in OVC

The Southeast Missouri State volleyball team was picked to finish eighth in the Ohio Valley Conference's preseason poll, which was released Monday.

The Redhawks wrapped up their regular season with an eighth-place finish a year ago, falling to Murray State in the opening round of the conference tournament.

Defending champion Belmont was named the preseason favorite in the OVC, nabbing 16 of the 24 first-place votes. Murray State had six first-place votes and was predicted to finish second.

"Every year it gets harder and harder to do the preseason predicted order of finish because this conference is so competitive from top to bottom," coach Julie Yankus said in a press release. "I am not surprised that we were picked eighth, but I do believe we will surpass that prediction.

"We have had a great preseason so far, and the competition in our gym is the highest it has been since I have been here. This group of women is determined to achieve at the highest level possible, and you can feel it in the gym every single day. I'm very excited to see what we can accomplish this season if we continue to strive together."

Junior middle blocker Nzingha Clarke was selected to the Preaseason All-OVC team after earning All-OVC honors as a sophomore. The 6-foot-1 Clarke led the conference in blocks per set (1.05) and had the second most blocks overall (121). She also had the conference's third-best hitting percentage (.323) while racking up 303 throughout the year.

"Nzingha has definitely earned her place on the All-OVC Preseason team after the season she had last year," Yankus said about Clarke, who started in all 30 matches for Southeast last season. "She has continued to work hard with our setters to be available as an offensive weapon as much as possible. Nzingha was in the top 5 in the conference for hitting percentage, so we definitely need to get her the ball more.

"I know she will continue to be a force on the defensive end, as she has had outstanding blocking numbers her entire career."

Southeast begins its season at noon on Aug. 26, beginning the Redhawks Invitational against New Orleans. They'll face Illinois-Chicago later that day at 7 p.m.