Oct. 17, 2009

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Southern Illinois University Edwardsville surged to a strong start Saturday but were outlasted by Eastern Illinois in four sets 26-28, 25-21, 25-12, 25-23.

The Cougars took an 8-2 lead at the SIUE Student Fitness Center in the first set only to have Eastern Illinois get back into the game. EIU took the lead in the set 14-13 but ended up dropping the set to the Cougars.

SIUE Coach Todd Gober pointed to SIUE's 16 kills in the set as a positive and then turned to the Cougars' 11 hitting errors as a problem.

"We worked hard to get the momentum, and we don't keep the momentum," said Gober.

The Panthers halted their nine-match losing streak and improved to 8-15 overall. SIUE is now 1-19.

"It was a battle of two teams trying to find their identities," said Gober.

Freshman setter Jamie Mueller picked up her start at home as Sammi Minton sat on the sidelines with a injury. Gober was pleased with Mueller's performance of seven kills, five blocks and 32 assists.

"I thought she did a good job. She battled hard and made some good choices," said Gober.

SIUE recorded nine blocks in the match and held EIU to a .173 hitting percentage. "This was about as well as we have blocked all season," Gober added.

EIU countered with 16 blocks, including eight from Alison Berens and seven each from Jorie Dieter and Alex Zweitter. It was Zweitter who led three players with double-digit kills with 15.

Sydney Winslow led SIUE in kills with nine. Libero Tiffany Turner recorded a season-high 26 digs.

The Cougars return for a second straight home match Tuesday. Austin Peay invades SIUE for a 7 p.m. match. -siue cougars-