Volleyball Begins 2023 Season Friday in SEMO Invitational - Southeast Missouri State University Athletics (2024)

Volleyball 8/24/2023 10:03:00 AM

SEMO Invitational
Southeast Missouri (0-0, 0-0 OVC)
vs. Evansville (0-0), Central Michigan (0-0), Southern Illinois(0-0)
Match Information
Date:Friday, Aug. 25 & Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023
First Serve:11 a.m. | 7 p.m. | 3 p.m.
Location:Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Venue:Houck Field House
All-Time Series:SEMO leads Evansville 19-6 | Central Michigan 2-1 | SIU 11-22
Last Meetings:vs. Evansville (W, 3-0, 2022) | vs. Central Michigan (W, 3-0 2021) | vs. SIU (L, 1-3)
Live Stats:Game 1|Game 2|Game 3
Live Video:Game 1|Game 2|Game 3


Redhawks Begin Their Season Hosting the SEMO Invitational Friday-Saturday
Southeast Missouri Volleyball (0-0-0) will open the 2023 regular season this Friday and Saturday, August 25-26, with a trio of matches at Houck Field House.

The Redhawks will begin the tournament at 11 a.m. against Evansville, the first of two matches on Friday. Friday night will feature a matchup with the Central Michigan Chippewas with first serve slated for 7 p.m. SEMO will round out the tournament against regional rival Southern Illinois on Saturday afternoon when they take on the Salukis at 3 p.m.

All three Redhawks matches will be streaming on ESPN+ and fans can follow along with live stats provided.

Matchup History
The Redhawks have a couple of familiar foes competing in the 2023 SEMO Invitational this year as SEMO is a combined 32-29 against the field in program history.

SEMO will face off with Evansville to begin as the Redhawks hold a 19-6 series advantage over the Purple Aces. SEMO and UE last met in 2019 in a match the saw the Redhawks sweep, 3-0, at Houck Field House.

The least familiar foe in the field, Central Michigan comes to Cape Girardeau for the first time following two neutral site matches in 2016 (CMU 3-1) and 2021 (SEMO 3-0). The Redhawks do hold a 2-1 series lead after winning the first ever matchup between the two all the way back in 1999. SEMO swept CMU, 3-0, in that meeting.

The Redhawks and Salukis have played to the tune of 33 matches dating back to last year, Saturday afternoon will mark the 34^thmeeting between the two. Last season, SIU took the lone matchup of the season by a final score of 3-1 to give the Salukis a 22-11 overall series record. SEMO last won in 2021 where they swept SIU in Cape Girardeau.

Head Coach
2023 will mark the 13^thseason for Head Coach Julie Yankus at the helm of SEMO volleyball. Last season, Yankus guided the Redhawks to a 17-16 overall record and a 10-8 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference.

As a fifth seed in the 2022 tournament, the Redhawks knocked off #4 seed Eastern Illinois (3-2) and the #1-overall seed UT Martin (3-2) before dropping the championship match to Tennessee State in a five-set thriller (2-3). SEMO has competed in the conference tournament in 11 of Yankus' 12 seasons with the program.

Following last season, Coach Yankus supports a 187-183 overall record and a 115-85 conference record in her 12 completed seasons.

This Year's Squad
The 2023 volleyball team adds just three new players to the roster including a pair of freshman and a graduate transfer. 14 players make their return to the 2023 squad from a season ago, including the OVC's Defensive Player of the Year and first team All-OVC selection Tara Beilsmith.

Both Beilsmith and fellow returning graduate student Zoey Beasley were selected to the 2023 All-OVC Preseason team for the Redhawks. Beasley was also picked for the 2022 All-OVC first team a season ago.

The squad features two freshman, four sophom*ores (one redshirt), eight seniors (two redshirts), and three graduate students.

Izzy Lukens returns to the team after leading SEMO in assists from a season ago. Lukens, SEMO's main setter in 2022, dished out 787 assists on 131 sets for a 6.01 assist-per-set average. Redshirt-senior Kaelyn O'Brien was second on the squad with 347 assists on 87 sets (3.99 Ast/Set).

Redshirt-Senior Mackenzie Meehan returns as the Redhawks leading blocker after last season where she totaled 129 blocks (16 solo, 111 assisted) for a 1.21 block-per-set mark.

Senior Kayla Closset returns as one of the most versatile players on the squad after she was third on the team in kills (276), second on the team in digs (325) and sixth on the team in assists (22). The outside hitter will provide SEMO with one of the best backline defenses in the conference.

Volleyball Picked First in Preseason Poll
Southeast Missouri volleyball was selected to finish first in the 2023 Ohio Valley Conference predicted order of finish, the league announced last Wednesday morning.

The league's head coaches and SIDs gave the Redhawks six first place votes, tying them with Tennessee Tech for the league lead.

Southeast Missouri and Tennessee Tech have been picked to share the 2023 Ohio Valley Conference Volleyball Crown in a vote of the league's head coaches and communication directors.

The Redhawks earned six first place votes and 168 points while The Golden Eagles also received six first-place votes and 168 points. UT Martin earned six first-place votes and 164 points to be selected to finish third while Eastern Illinois picked up two first-place votes and 156 points to be picked fourth.

Morehead State is predicted to finish fifth with 134 points while Tennessee State earned the final two first-place votes and 126 points for a sixth-place finish. Lindenwood (80), SIUE (78), Little Rock (58), newcomer Western Illinois (40) and Southern Indiana (24) round out the poll.

Scouting Evansville
The Purple Aces finished the 2022 campaign with a 16-19 overall record and a record breaking 11-7 conference record, making it all the way to the MVC semifinals.

Giulia Cardona and Alondra Vazquez were named to the All-MVC First Team while Kora Ruff earned a spot on the All-Freshman squad.

EU will have to replace senior hitter Vazquez. During her career she totaled 1,864 kills, which is 4th-best in MVC history.

The kills leader from 2022 is back, junior Giulia Cardona finished with 574 kills last season, breaking the record of kills during a single season while becoming the first UE player to record 500 or more in a season.

The team added seven freshmen while retaining nine players from the 2022 season.

The Aces are coached by Fernando Morales. Morales is entering his fifth season in Evansville.

Scouting Central Michigan
Last season the Chippewas finished with an overall record of 20-12 (12-6 MAC) and made it to the semi-finals in the 2022 MAC conference tournament.

The Chippewas return four of their seven starters from last year, Natalia Rejment, Aly Gurtiza, Claire Ammeraal and Elly Medendorp.

Claire Ammeraal, the sophom*ore setter, was named to the All-MAC First Team and to the all-freshman squad in 2022 and Aly Gurtiza made the All-MAC Second Team as a Libero/DS.

Central Michigan welcomes four transfers to the 2023 squad: Devon Bright, a outside hitter (Nicholls State), Abby Olin, a middle blocker/outside hitter (Michigan State), Alina Anderson, a Libero/DS (Ferris State), and Brooklyn Conner, a middle blocker (Clemson).

Mike Gawlik is entering his eighth season as head coach of Central Michigan. Last season was Gawlik's most wins as the leader of the Chippewas.

Scouting Southern Illinois
The Salukis are coming off an 18-13 (11-7 MVC) season in 2022, ending their season in the quarterfinals in the Missouri Valley conference tournament.

SIU returns 12 players from a season ago including all six starters and libero. Last season saw five different Salukis tallied at least 100 kills as they averaged 14.11 kills per set, the program's best mark since 2007.

The preseason poll picked them to finish fourth in the MVC. Senior outside hitter Nataly Garcia was named to the 2023 Preseason All-MVC team. She finished with a team high 449 kills last season while notching 37 service aces.

Only two new recruits will be joining the Salukis for the 2023 campaign, middle blocker Vienna Elliott setter Ema Stermenska.

Nataly Garcia was named to the first team, while Tatum Tornatta and Ana Jaworski were named to the Valley's second team. The first time the Salukis have had multiple All-Conference honors since 2019.

Ed Allen enters his fifth year as head coach for SIU but has 32 seasons as a head coach under his belt. Allen enters this season with 685 career victories.

Looking Ahead
The Redhawks will be back in action next weekend in Chicago, Ill. when they compete in the Chicago State Tournament. SEMO will take part in three matches beginning with Friday, Sept. 1, against Jacksonville State with first serve slated for 10 a.m., CT. in the Windy City.