SE Splits on Day One in Missouri

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 JOPLIN, Mo. – Southeastern opened the MSSU Tournament with a day one split, following up a 3-1 loss to Northwest Missouri State with a hard-fought 3-2 win over the host Missouri Southern State in the nightcap of the event held in Joplin, Mo.
 
SE moves to 8-8 on the season and will return to the court on Saturday for a 9 a.m. meeting with Emporia State followed by a 1 p.m. matchup with No. 13 Washburn.
 
In the day's finale, the trio of Emily Gentle, Courtney Miller and Megan Kunkel powered the Savage Storm to a win.
 
Gentle continued to pace the offense with 19 kills, while Miller turned in one of her best outings of the season with 17 kills while hitting .304.  Kunkel chipped in 13 kills.
 
Madelynne Cera also chimed in with an excellent outing, dishing out 48 assists in the match, setting a new career-high, while adding 14 digs and flirting with a triple-double by adding in eight kills.
 
The defense was led by Taylor Benner's match-high 22 digs, while a total of five SE players reached double-digits in digs.
 
At the net, Gentle added three solo blocks while Cera and Caitlyn Mills each added three total blocks.
 
The Storm fell behind after a 25-17 loss in the first set, but evened the score after a 25-20 win in set two.
 
The next two sets featured plenty of bonus volleyball, with SE winning the third set 28-26, while MSSU avoided the loss with a 32-30 win in set four.  The Storm, however, would get the better in the final set, winning 15-12.
 
The first match of the day was back-and-forth early as NWMSU won the opener 25-20, but SE answered with a 25-21 win in set two.
 
The Bearcats, however, would have the last word with wins of 25-18 and 25-22 in three and four to clinch.
 
 
Gentle turned in the only Southeastern double-digit kill outing with 12, while Ariel Sanders and Cera each added seven.
 
Cera also dished out 17 assists and had six digs.
 
Megan Kunkel turned in 15 digs to lead a group of four defenders with double-figure digs, while Sanders picked up eight total blocks.