Box Score
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August 30, 2004
SIUE's volleyball team returned from the West Florida Comfort Inn-vitational with a 3-1 record. Coach Todd Gober said he was pleased with the way his team performed at the tournament.
"We came away with some confidence," said Gober. "I am happy with the record and very happy with the win over West Florida."
Two juniors stepped up huge for the Cougars in the win over West Florida. Outside hitter Kindra Westendorf (Effingham) had a career-best 23 kills while libero and defensive specialist Allison Buss (Towanda) picked up 27 digs in the match. Westendorf finished the contest with a hitting percentage of .500.
"Kindra was our go to hitter in our front row," said Gober. "She forced a lot of double blocks, and she was the person the other teams focused on."
Another junior, setter Krystal Majernik (Normal) was voted to the Comfort Inn-vitational All-Tournament Team. Majernik averaged 10.85 assists per game in during the four-match tournament. She totaled 141 assists for the tournament.
The Cougars started off the season with a three-game win over Adelphi (NY) on Friday morning. SIUE followed that up with another 3-0 win over Gulf South Conference opponent Montevallo.
SIUE's toughest match of the tournament came on Saturday morning as the Cougars faced 13th-ranked Central Missouri State. The Cougars jumped on the Jennies winning the first game 30-20. SIUE lost the second game 30-20, and then lost in a heart breaking 30-27 third game before CMSU ended the match with a 30-15 loss.
"Central Missouri served very tough against us especially in the second game," said Gober. "Sometimes we would have a let down in the second game after a strong first one."
The Cougars finished out the tournament with a three-game win over West Florida on Saturday afternoon. Middle hitter Heather Bonde (Millstadt) had a great tournament with 45 kills and 15 services aces during the four games. "If we serve tough it just makes our game that much better," said Gober. "In all the games we served very tough and executed our game plan."
Junior outside hitter Shannon Winkeler (Bartelso) played well in her first few games as a Cougar. Winkeler averaged 3.15 digs and 2.77 kills per game for the tournament.
"I am encouraged on how our team played as a whole," Gober said. "We have a few areas we need to focus on this week before we head to the Missouri Western Tournament."
SIUE faces University of Illinois-Springfield on Tuesday night at the Vadalabene Center at 7 for their home opener. Then the Cougars will battle Northwest Missouri at 2 p.m. and Emporia State at 8 p.m. on Friday at the Missouri Western Tournament. On Saturday, the Cougars take on Missouri Western at Noon and Pittsburg State at 2 p.m.
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