Three SEMO athletes earn top performer awards

Three Southeast Missouri State athletes received Ohio Valley Conference top performer of the week awards for their efforts last week.

Junior Emily Hughes is the offensive player of the week for volleyball, freshman Kristen Starkey is the co-goalkeeper of the week for soccer and junior Jason Lumpkin is the male runner of the week for cross country.

Hughes nets 29 kills

Hughes had 29 kills in two matches last week while recording only one attack error as the Redhawks won both contests. She claimed her second OVC offensive player of the week award.

Hughes had 16 kills and a season-high .536 attack percentage in a sweep of SIU-Edwardsville. She followed up with 13 kills, a .464 attack percentage and four block assists in a sweep of Eastern Illinois.

For the season, Hughes leads Southeast and ranks second in the OVC with a .289 attack percentage. She also leads the team in total kills with 237 (sixth in the OVC) and blocks per set.

Starkey shuts out foes

Starkey posted a pair of 1-0 shutout wins, over Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech, last week to earn her second OVC goalkeeper of the week award.

Starkey leads the OVC with six shutouts and also paces the conference in goals against average at 0.84.

Lumpkin places second

Lumpkin claimed his second OVC male runner of the week accolade after finishing second at the Evansville Invitational.

Lumpkin nearly prevailed in a field of 151 runners as he posted a time of 25 minutes, 36.12 seconds in the 8K for his third second-place finish in four meets this year.

-- From staff reports