JOPLIN, Mo. – Southeastern opens its season with a 3-1 win over Missouri Southern on day one of the Southern Invitational.
 
Rylee Jackson and Gabby Jones combined to lead the blue and gold attack with 19 and 13 kills, respectively, while Jones recorded 10 digs for a double-double. Jasmin Dion conducted the Storm offense, passing around 40 assists, and added nine digs and two kills to her totals. Patience Lewis paced the back row with 13 digs, and Merrick Hammel would chip in 10 digs.

SE attacked at a .301 clip over the match, while holding the Lions to a .220 average, including a .067 attack average in the fourth set. Both sides finished with 51 kills, but the Storm held the advantage in errors, committing just 14 compared to MSSU's 22. 
 
SET ONE
The Storm trailed early in the first stanza, as the Lions used a fast start to build an 8-3 lead. SE began to close the gap through a trio of errors by MSSU, combined with a kill from Jones and an ace by Lewis to cut the lead to 15-13. From there, the two sides matched each other in scoring over the next rallies, but the Lions would hold their lead to set point to claim a 25-21 win.
 
SET TWO
Southeastern and MSSU were locked at 5-5 to begin the second frame, and the two sides remained close with the set remaining tied at 10-10 and later 12-12. The Storm and Lions continued to battle back and forth, locked at 16-all, but a quick 3-0 flurry by the blue and gold pushed them to a 20-18 edge.
 
MSSU was quick to reply with three straight points before SE grabbed late momentum behind two kills from Jones to close out the frame on a 5-2 run and claim a 25-23 set victory.
 
 SET THREE
The momentum stayed on the side of the blue and gold, who took a 7-1 lead behind three kills from Jackson. Jackson remained the hot hand, slamming down two more kills, including one to spark a 4-0 burst to push the Storm ahead 17-10. Southeastern carried its advantage across the next rallies, and SE soon picked up the pace again, as four different players slammed down kills, capped off by Sophee Dean to grab a 25-19 set win.  
 
SET FOUR
The Storm led 5-3 to get the fourth frame going, but the Lions quickly found their rhythm to flip the lead in their favor 8-6. However, SE stormed back on an 8-1 run, featuring four kills by Jackson, to surge back in front 14-9. Not long after, the Storm chained together another run of scores, sparked by an Anger Ngeth kill to extend their lead to 21-15, and SE would remain on the front foot, closing out the set on a 4-0 run to secure the final frame 25-16.
 
Southeastern (1-0, 0-0 GAC) will play two matches tomorrow on day two of the Southern Invitational, starting at 1 p.m. against Northeastern State, followed by Southwest Baptist at 5 p.m. in the Leggett and Platt Athletics Center.