Oct. 13, 2009

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Lifted by a pair of fiery hitters, Southeast Missouri State defeated Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in straight sets Tuesday night in college volleyball action.

SEMO topped SIUE 25-20, 25-23, 25-19. The Redhawks improved to 7-12 while the Cougars dropped to 1-18.

SIUE is now home for the next two matches. The Cougars play ho to Eastern Illinois Saturday at the SIUE Student Fitness Center. Match time is 2 p.m. The Cougars entertain Austin Peay Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Emily Hughes and Karleigh Delong accounted for 30 of SEMO's 41 kills Tuesday night at Hauck Field House. The Redhawks hit .244 for the matches and collected 60 digs on defense.

Karie Downing led the Cougars with 10 kills as the team hit a respectable .176. Gober said he was pleased with his middle hitters Brittni Birkey and Jessica Hemann, who combined for 12 kills and just two errors.

"I thought our middles did well tonight. And Brianne Graunke had a good match as well with a .429 hitting percentage on six kills," said Gober.

In set two, the Cougars rallied from five points down to close within one point at 24-23 when Birkey nearly served the Cougars to victory. Paige Dossey's kill ended the Cougars' run for the two-point win for the second set.

SIUE had to battle from behind in the third set after giving up the first eight points. The Cougars would get to within three points at 18-15 on a Sydney Winslow kill but never completely came back.

"I still see so much more potential. We need to keep developing our volleyball IQ," said Gober.

-siue cougars-