Southeast Missouri State's Clarke earns all-conference volleyball honors

Southeast Missouri State sophomore middle blocker Nzingha Clarke was named to the Ohio Valley Conference's All-Ohio Valley Conference team during the OVC's banquet on Wednesday night.

Clarke, who was on the OVC's All-Newcomer team last year, is No. 1 in the conference with 116 blocks, averaging 1.04 blocks per set.

She led the Redhawks with 290 kills and a .333 attack percentage.

"Nzingha is a huge part of this team, and this is a well-deserved honor for her," Southeast coach Julie Yankus said in a press release. "She has such a large offensive window, so when we can get her the ball in a good location, she is very successful. Z also dominates the net defensively, clearly indicated by her blocking numbers. I'm so happy that she has received this honor."

Southeast faces regular-season and defending tournament champion Murray State at 7 p.m. today in the first round of the OVC tournament.

The top-seeded Racers, who host the tournament, ended eighth-seeded Southeast's season in the opening round a year ago.

MSU is 25-2 with its only losses to Eastern Illinois and nationally-ranked Washington.

Murray State junior outside hitter Scottie Ingram was named the OVC's Player of the Year for the second straight year. MSU's Sam Bedard was chosen as Setter of the Year and David Schwepker was named Coach of the Year after leading the Racers to back-to-back regular-season titles.

Morehead State's Meredith Jewell was named Freshman of the Year and Tennessee State's Madison Halterman was the Defensive Player of the Year.

-- From staff report