By Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information

COOKEVILLE, Tenn.—The Tennessee Tech volleyball team (7-22, 3-13 OVC) fell to Southeast Missouri (7-23, 6-10 OVC) in three sets in their final match of the 2016 season. The Redhawks defeated the Golden Eagles in three sets with scores of 25-15, 25-16, and 25-16.

Southeast Missouri started off set one with a three-point lead at 10-7. Tech then called for a timeout, and out of the break the Redhawks extended their lead to 13-8 taking advantage of a Golden Eagle service error. SEMO pulled ahead by seven at 20-13 with a Jade Mortimer service ace and then closed out a first set victory over Tech at 25-15.

The Redhawks took the early lead again in set two, opening with an 11-7 advantage with a kill by Nzingha Clarke. SEMO then extended their lead out to 17-9 with a kill by Krista Berns, which pushed Tech to call for a timeout. Out of the break, three kills in a row from freshman Emily Brooks followed by a Rachel Thomas kill cut the Redhawk lead down to three at 17-14, which caused SEMO to now call for a timeout. Once play resumed, SEMO regrouped and extended their lead out to 21-15 with two back-to-back kills by Marie Less. The Redhawks then sealed a second set victory at 25-16.

A score of 10-7 started off set three in the slight favor of Southeast Missouri. The Redhawks kept the pressure on to extended their lead by six at 16-10 with a block by Katarina Rotta and Clarke. Here, the Golden Eagles called for a timeout. After play resumed, SEMO continued to add buffer to their lead and pulled ahead to 18-11 with a kill by Rotta. The Redhawks then took a third set and match victory at 25-16.

Emily Brooks led the Golden Eagles with a career-high 10 kills. Fellow freshman Rachel Thomas posted nine kills and six digs for the Golden Eagles while hitting .250. Clarke led Southeast Missouri with 11 kills and a .611 hitting percentage and three blocks.