EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Southern Illinois University Edwardsville volleyball pushed back Lewis efforts to take over first place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference standings Saturday.
         SIUE, ranked No. 17 in the AVCA/NCAA Division II Coaches Poll, handed Lewis its second conference loss with a 30-28, 30-22, 22-30, 30-21 victory at the Vadalabene Center. SIUE remained undefeated at 12-0 in the GLVC and ran its overall record to 21-4. With the loss, Lewis dropped to third place in the GLVC standings and is now 17-5 overall and 11-2 in the GLVC.
         The Cougars threw a new twist into its rivalry with the Flyers. SIUE setter Mallory Clements and middle hitter Kelsey Hubert each finished with a triple-double. Clements posted 10 kills, 48 assists and 13 digs. Hubert made her presence felt at the net and on defense with 12 kills, 14 digs and 10 blocks.
         SIUE fell behind early in game one 10-6 but stormed back to defeat the Flyers 30-28 in game one. SIUE took game two a little easier 30-22, but the Flyers wouldn't let it end so quick, taking advantage of 10 SIUE attack errors in game three.
         The Cougars turned in their best offensive performance in game four, eliminating the hitting errors down to two and punding 16 kills.
         Kim Potthast led all hitters with 17 kills for the Cougars. Kate Hofeldt joined Potthast in double figures with 13 kills. After a slow start on defense, SIUE picked up its play with 79 digs in the match led by libero Beth DeGreeff's 15.
         Theresa Nugent and Stephanie Sagat led the Lewis offense with 13 kills each.
         Both teams blocked equally as well. Lewis put down 17 blocks led by eigth from Sara DeBuhr. Hubert's 10 blocks paced SIUE, which finished with 18 overall.
         SIUE now heads to the road for a three-match trip beginning Tuesday at Southern Indiana. SIUE also travels to No. 16 Rockhurst and Drury next weekend.
                  -siue cougars-