SE Downs Rival ECU 3-0 on Senior Night

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern hit nearly .300 as a team and put a pair of hitters in double-figures in kills en route 3-0 sweep of rival East Central on Thursday night in the regular season finale at Bloomer Sullivan Gymnasium.
 
The win bumps the Savage Storm to 13-16 overall and 6-10 in Great American Conference play. However the team has won five of its last six heading into the conference tournament in Hot Springs, Ark., where it will open play on Nov. 17 as the No. 8 seed against top-seeded Harding.
 
It was senior night for SE as six seniors played their final home game in Bloomer Sullivan Gymnasium, with that group including Karine Cavalcante, Julia Benford, Brittney Owens, Kristina Bergman, Maggie Benson and Caitlyn Mills.
 
Sophomore Abby Jameson led the offense on the night with 11 kills, despite not playing in the first set, while hitting .409.
 
Cavalcante would add 10 kills in the match, while fellow senior Benford would chip in nine while hitting .412.
 
SE finished with a 45-to-35 edge in kills, while outhitting the Tigers .291-to-.198.
 
Alissa Benson turned in 35 assists while adding three kills and a pair of service aces on offense, and on the defensive side added 11 digs.
 
The defense was led by freshman Caitlin Cosby who turned in a match-high 19 digs, while Benson's 11 was next up, followed by seven from Cavalcante and six from Kristi Carter.
 
Arianna Baker would collect a pair of blocks, while Benford and Abby Jameson would add one apiece.
 
The Storm held a defensive edge in digs by a 51-to-45 margin, but was behind 5-to-3 in blocks.
 
SE jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in the opening set, but ECU answered and eventually tied the match at 9-9.  The Storm then reeled off a 5-0 run, but it just triggered alternating runs as the teams played back-and-forth until SE held a 23-21 lead.
 
Two points later Southeastern was serving for set point at 24-22, but the Tiger responded to tie the match, but the Storm would take the final two points for the 26-24 win.
 
SE opened the second set similar to the first, scoring the first five points and maintaining the advantage out to 12-6.
 
The Storm would keep its distance throughout the set, with the Tigers closing to within three points twice before SE closed out a 25-19 win for a 2-0 lead.
 
Southeastern fell behind out of the gate in the third set but used a 5-0 run to eventually take an 8-7 lead.
 
The teams would finally find themselves tied again at 17-17, but the Storm would run off five-straight points to take a 22-17 advantage.
 
ECU would make it interesting, closing to a 23-22 score, but Cavalcante would get a kill, followed by an Alissa Benson ace to end the match with the 25-22 win in the third set and the 3-0 sweep overall.