Southeast Missouri State volleyball team dumps Murray State in Redhawks' home opener

The Southeast Missouri State volleyball team gave coach Julie Folliard a win in her first home appearance.

The Redhawks rendered bittersweet the homecoming of two former local high school standouts in the process.

Southeast won a five-game thriller against Ohio Valley Conference rival Murray State 22-25, 25-15, 29-27, 15-25, 15-11 on Tuesday night.

"It was a match of ups and downs," said Folliard, Southeast's rookie coach whose squad played its first 13 matches away from Houck Field House. "I'm really proud of them for always persevering regardless of the score."

Southeast improved to 4-10 overall and 2-1 in OVC play. The Racers are 2-12 and 2-1.

Murray State's Casey Bucher (9) and Wendi Zickfield (14) anticipate the play from Southeast's Julie Shives during Game 2 on Tuesday at Houck Field House. (Laura Simon)

"We were very excited to give her [Folliard] the win. We were excited to give our program the win," senior outside hitter Paige Dossey said.

Murray sophomores Wendi Zickfield and Casey Bucher were denied the excitement of a victory but still enjoyed playing in front of an unusually large cheering section for a road match.

Zickfield is an outside hitter who graduated from Central High School, while Bucher is a setter and Leopold High School graduate.

Both local products redshirted as freshmen in 2009, saw a decent amount of action last year and now are prime players for the Racers.

"They're both doing a very good job," said Murray coach David Schwepker, a 1987 Southeast graduate who was an assistant at his alma mater from 1992 through 1994. "Wendi just keeps getting better and better, and Casey has improved so much."

Southeast Missouri State's Julie Shives sets the ball to teammate Emily Coon (5) during their match against Murray State on Tuesday at Houck Field House. (Laura Simon)

Zickfield has started every match this year and entered Tuesday's contest second on the squad in kills. She had 15 kills, 11 digs and three blocks against Southeast despite spraining her right ankle in the opening game.

"It's sad about the outcome tonight, but it's so much fun to be back in my hometown," Zickfield said. "I love it at Murray. A great coach, a great team."

Bucher, who started her eighth match of the season Tuesday, recorded five digs, four kills and two assists.

"It was nice because it seemed like we were at a home game with all the fan support, but it's not good we couldn't come out with a win," Bucher said. "But I love it [at Murray]."

Four players reached double figures in both kills and digs for each side.

Southeast sophomore setter Julie Shives recorded a rare triple-double with 46 assists, 10 kills and 10 digs. She entered the night eighth at the school in career assists.

"My teammates helped me," Shives said about her triple-double. "It was a full team effort."

Junior outside hitter Brittney Kalinoski led Southeast in kills with 12. Dossey paced the Redhawks in digs with a career-high 20, while adding 11 kills and four blocks.

Sophomore middle blocker Emily Coon recorded 11 kills and four blocks. Junior outside hitter Karlee Lursen had 13 digs and eight kills. Junior libero Samantha Lowman added 12 digs.

"We had a really balanced attack," Folliard said. "One of our goals is to hit over .200, which we did [.219]."

Middle blocker Holly Reynolds -- she and Dossey are Southeast's only seniors -- contributed seven kills and a career-high seven blocks.

Reynolds had three stuff blocks among Southeast's last five points, including the point that ended the match. The Redhawks ended the final game on a 6-1 run.

"We've been working on blocking all season," Reynolds said. "It was very exciting. We love finally playing at home. We've been on the road so long."

Folliard, who complimented the big crowd, said the Redhawks are improving with every match.

"We're continuously getting better," Folliard said. "We're still a young team."

Southeast has two more OVC home matches this weekend, 6:30 p.m. Friday against Jacksonville State and 2 p.m. Saturday against Tennessee Tech.