Volleyball team falls to Austin Peay at home, 0-3

The Southeast women’s volleyball team was looking forward to a matchup with conference rival Austin Peay after blowing out Jacksonville State 3-0 at home in their previous match on Sept. 23. However, it was the Redhawks who were shut out 0-3 by the Governors even with home-court advantage on Friday night.

A game that was expected to be a hard-fought battle of clean and entertaining volleyball,was instead a showcase of attack errors, missed opportunities, whiffed blocks and frustration from both sides as the game went along.

In the first two sets, the teams battled through a back-and-forth affair in which both teams would regain and lose the lead, eventually leading to a 25-23 and 25-22 tally by the Governors.

“The girls came out a little nervous due to the big crowd and started the sets very timid, and the momentum seemed to shift,” Head Coach Julia Yankus said

Indeed, that can be said for the Redhawks, as senior outside hitter Krissa Gearring was the lone bright spot exploding for eight kills in the first half and 10 total for the matchup. She almost single-handedly kept southeast in the game due to the team’s trend of committing constant errors, which cost them in the end.

“We tried to stick together and work as a team to try and limit the mistakes within our control, and knowing exactly who was on the other side of the net,” Krissa said

However, this was not the case after halftime leading into the third set. Austin Peay came out strong as they quickly had the Redhawks in a 7-2 hole, and they didn’t look back from there as they continued onto a 25-16 set win.“Balls were landing in the wrong spots, we were scrambling, and things ended up not going our way,” Yankus said

This heartbreaker would turn out to be Southeast’s 11th overall loss and their second loss within the conference.

Progressing forward, Yankus expressed a feeling of enthusiasm moving into the following day’s matchup against Murray State after the loss.

“We are a very talented, capable team, we just have to be able to be ready for the next day and put it all on the court, because wins don’t come easy,” Yankus said. “It’s going to be a tough match with a tough rivalry, but we will be successful if we just show up and play SEMO volleyball.”