Southeast finished third in this weekend's Redhawks Invitational, bringing an end to their undefeated streak.

The start of Southeast’s 2018 volleyball season has mirrored the start of the 1986 season, when the team went five matches before losing a set.

The Redhawks continued their undefeated set streak into the beginning of the tournament against the University of Louisiana Monroe, winning 25-18, 25-23, and 25-18 to bring its season record to 5-0.

Head coach Julie Yankus said the highlight of the first match was watching outside hitters Madara Bajare and Laney Malloy “rise to the occasion.” She said they were hitting very efficiently, and that is what the team needs from their outside hitters to be successful in the OVC.

Malloy had 16 kills while Bajara achieved a personal best against ULM with 15 kills.

Southeast played Radford University in its second match of the tournament, which is where the streak ended with a 25-23, 25-17, 25-11 loss.

Freshman captain Claire Ochs led the team defensively with nine digs, while Bajare led offensively with 12 kills.

The Redhawks finished the tournament with a four game loss against Northwestern State, which won 25-17, 24-26, 25-23, 25-14. Malloy led with 15 kills and senior captain Madeline Grimm recorded a season-best 12 digs.

Despite losing, many Southeast players established personal bests in this game. Freshman outside hitter Kendall Washington added a career-best nine kills. Malloy contributed 12 digs along with her 15 kills for her first double-double performance at Southeast. Sophomore defensive specialist Ally Dion recorded her first 20-plus dig performance of the season.

Washington and Dion both said Radford and Northwestern had big blocks that threw off the Redhawks. They said they could have done a better job of adjusting to the way their opponents were playing.

“We’re going to make errors, every team does, every person does,” Yankus said. “We have to learn to respond and come back from a tough weekend and know that we’re a good team and have that confidence.”

Northwestern State won the tournament with a 3-0 record, Radford finished second at 2-1, Southeast finished third at 1-2, and the University of Louisiana Monroe finished fourth at 0-3.

Ochs finished the tournament with 91 assists, 26 digs and 10 kills, which earned her All-Tournament honors. Reagan Rogers from Northwestern State was named the Redhawk Invitational MVP. Channing Burleson and Madeline Drake, also from Northwestern, both earned spots on the All-Tournament team.

The Redhawks play again at home against Southern Illinois University-Carbondale on Tuesday, Sept. 4, at Houck Field House.