SEMO volleyball team loses to Eastern Illinois in OVC tournament championship
CHARLESTON, Ill. (KBSI) – The #2 seeded Southeast Missouri Volleyball (22-10, 12-6 OVC) lost Wednesday night in the 2023 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Championship match to #1 Eastern Illinois (28-4, 15-3 OVC) by a final score of 3-0 at Lantz Arena in Charleston, Ill.
Izzy Lukens and Tara Beilsmith were named to the 2023 All-Ohio Valley Conference Tournament team.
The scores in the match were 21-25, 16-25, and 20-25. The Panthers outhit SEMO by a .283 to .112 difference.
SEMO finished the season with a 22-10 overall record and advanced to the conference championship match for the fourth time in five seasons.
Outside hitter Zoey Beasley finished with 10 kills on 33 total attacks (4 errors) for a .182 hitting-percentage. Beasley was the only Redhawk in double-digits for kills.
Libero Tara Beilsmith finished with a team-high 21 digs in her final match in a Redhawks jersey. That is the third all-time in the NCAA’s history for digs. Beilsmith finished her career with 3,035 total digs.
SEMO out blocked EIU by a 7-6 advantage led by graduate student, middle blocker Talia Gouard.
Gouard, in her final match as a Redhawk, finished with four block assists to pace the defense, according to SEMO Athletics. She chipped in four kills on 20 total attacks.
The match lasted one hour and 41 minutes. There was eight lead changes and 11 different times the score was tied as EIU took advantage of seven service errors by the Redhawks.
EIU’s Giovana Larregui Lopez finished with 12 kills and .156 hitting percentage. She led the Panthers to the conference tournament championship.
Senior setter Izzy Lukens had 26 assists on 95 attempts and finished with a .274 assist percentage to lead SEMO to a .112 team hitting percentage.
The Redhawks concluded the 2023 with four all-conference selections in Izzy Lukens, Marisa Guisti, Lucy Arndt and Tara Beilsmith.
Arndt was named the 2023 Freshman of the Year in the OVC. Beilsmith was named the Defensive Player of the Year for the second-straight season.
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