Storm Open Season at the Southern Invite on Aug. 27-29

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern opens its season with a trip to the Show-Me State to compete in the Southern Invitational, hosted by Missouri Southern.
 
SE opens play Thursday, Aug. 27, at 6:30 p.m. against the hosts Missouri Southern, before playing two matches on Friday, facing Northeastern State and Southwest Baptist at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively. The Storm concluded the invitational with a single match on Saturday, Aug. 29 at 9 a.m. versus Missouri S&T.
 
SERIES NOTES

• SE is 5-3 all-time against Missouri Southern, with the two sides set to meet for the first time since 2017. MSSU defeated the Storm 3-0 in Bethany, Okla., in that match that was part of the GAC/MIAA Crossover.
• The blue and gold are slated for their first-ever match versus Northeastern State in the first match of the day on Friday.
• Southeastern trails Southwest Baptist in the series 3-1, as the Bearcats have won three straight over the Storm.
• SE and S&T take the court against each other for the second time after Missouri S&T bested the blue and gold back in 2024, 3-2.

 
STORM REPORT
Southeastern was selected to finish 10th in the Great American Conference Preseason Poll before the 2026 season, following a 2025 campaign where they went 10-18 overall and finished ninth in the league standings at 5-11 in the GAC. Southeastern brings back eight players from last season and added nine newcomers during the offseason, including eight freshmen and one transfer.
 
Headlining the returners for the blue and gold is libero Patience Lewis, who has been a member of the SE program since 2022. Lewis joined the 1,000-dig club at the end of the 2024 season before she missed all of 2025 due to injury and ranks 12th all-time for the program with 1,105 career digs. Supporting Lewis in defensive duties this season are sophomore Merrick Hammel and senior Kylee Turner, who recorded 263 and 227 digs last season, respectively.  
 
Offensively, SE will look to the sophomore tandem of Jasmin Dion and Gabby Jones to help lead the attack. Dion was named team MVP in her freshman season after pulling the strings for the blue and gold attack with 684 assists and ranking fourth in the GAC with 7.35 assists per set. Jones had her freshman season cut short due to injury, but would slam down 184 kills in 19 matches started, while averaging 3.07 kills per set.
 
SCOUTING MISSOURI SOUTHERN
MSSU was picked tenth in the MIAA Preseason Poll ahead of the season, after finishing 10-18 overall and 4-12 in the MIAA during 2025. The Lions are led by head coach Joshua Moore, who enters his first season as the full-time head coach after serving last year as the interim. Coach Moore and the Lions return seven players from 2025, including middle blocker Hanna Lauterbach, who was second on the team in blocks with 45.0.
 
SCOUTING NORTHEASTERN STATE
The RiverHawks begin a new era under first-year head coach Maria Jacobus, who leads NSU in its inaugural season back on the court. In Northeastern State's first year competing in the NCAA season, the RiverHawks were picked 13^th in the MIAA Preseason Poll.
 
SCOUTING SOUTHWEST BAPTIST
Southwest Baptist concluded 2025 8-20 and went 1-22 in the GLCV, with its lone conference win coming in a 3-2 win over William Jewell College. The Bearcats return 10 players from a year ago, including kills leader Gabriela Dupree and digs leader Chloe Chafins. Dupree slammed down 372 kills last season and averaged 3.78 kills per set, while Chafins recorded 383 digs across 100 sets played.
 
SCOUTING MISSOURI S&T
S&T finished last year with a 10-17 overall record and went 5-8 in the GLVC. Elly Decker spearheads the Miners' attack into 2026 after compiling a team-high 207 kills as a freshman last season and racking up nine matches with double-figure kills. Helping to anchor the defense for S&T is Kate Zipprich, who eclipsed 100.0 total blocks last season and averaged 1.23 blocks per set, while tallying 114 kills.