JOPLIN, Mo. – Southeastern concluded the three-day event at the Southern Invitational with a 3-2 defeat to Missouri S&T to finish the invitational 2-2.

"I'm proud of this group for walking away 2-2. There was a lot of growth and grit I saw this weekend," head coach Nicole Solum-Mitchell said. "It's unfortunate to have back-to-back 5-set losses, but I think that shows the fight that we have and the balance within the team. I am excited to get back to work and compete again next week," Solum-Mitchell said.
 
Rylee Jackson paced the attack for the Storm with 16 kills and helped with the defensive efforts, recording 4.0 total blocks. Gabby Jones slammed down 13 kills and matched her career-high 23 digs to lead the team for her third double-double of the tournament. Setting up the duo, Jasmin Dion dished out 47 assists and added six digs and 3.0 blocks to her totals.
 
Nykeriah Allen and Anger Ngeth led the efforts at the net, each recording 5.0 total blocks, while Patience Lewis tallied 21 digs.
 
Southeastern (2-2, 0-0 GAC) heads to Las Vegas, N.M., to play in the Meadow City Classic on September 4-5, hosted by New Mexico Highlands.
 
SET ONE
A slow start by the blue and gold allowed S&T to build an 11-4 gap after a flurry of attacks. SE took advantage of a pair of errors by the Miners and a block by Dean to close the trim lead to 13-8, but S&T rattled off another run of scores to push its advantage to 21-12. The Miners would carry their lead to a 25-14 set win.
 
SET TWO
Little separated the two sides in the second set, with SE and S&T locked at 5-5. The Storm began to grab control through a 7-2 run, featuring a pair of blocks from Ngeth to push the blue and gold ahead 11-7. From there, the two sides went point for point, as Southeastern continued to hold a four-point gap, leading 19-15 after a kill by Jackson. Jackson continued to have an impact in the second stanza, slamming down two more kills to tie the match 1-1, winning the frame 25-22.
 
SET THREE
Jones was firing early in the third frame with two early kills to give SE a 4-3 advantage, but the Miners quickly chained together seven straight points to jump out to a 10-4 edge. Southeastern responded with a run of scores of its own to close the gap on S&T to pull within two, and eventually tied the frame 15-all with the help of Allen and Jones, who combined for a pair of blocks. SE would capture the momentum and leaned on Jones and Dean late in the set, who combined for four kills to secure a 25-22 set win.
 
SET FOUR
SE and S&T traded runs to get the fourth stanza started, as the Miners led 6-4 before the two sides were locked at 11-11. Missouri S&T found the first advantage in the back-and-forth set, building a run of scores to jump out to a 19-13 lead and later 22-14. The Storm would apply late pressure with a flurry of points, but the Miners' lead would prove too much, as S&T claimed the set at 25-19.
 
SET FIVE
Southeastern held the first advantage in the race to 15 points, leading 8-7, but the Miners soon exploded for a 7-0 run to capture the final set 15-10.