EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - No one said it would be easy.

SIUE Coach Todd Gober was able to celebrate career win No. 200 Tuesday night as SIUE edged UMKC 18-25, 25-21, 25-21, 23-25, 15-12 at the Vadalabene Center. SIUE improved to 9-7 for the season.

"Well 200 - that's nice. It means we've been here a while. It's been a good run," said Gober.

Four SIUE Cougars finished the match with double-digit kills. Outside hitter Lexi Cibulka led SIUE with 15 followed by 13 each from right-side hitter Sydney Winslow and middle hitter Jessica Hemann. Outside hitter Julia Whitfield added 11.

The match also featured some outstanding defense. Karie Downing powered SIUE's defense with 22 digs. Sammi Minton, who collected a season-high 51 assists, also finished with 15 digs.

"The effort is always there. Both teams played hard. It was a very good defensive battle," Gober said.

UMKC, now 6-13, got off to a strong start behind junior outside hitter Kelsey Knoche, who led all players with 17 kills. The Kangaroos hit .292 in the first set but were unable to keep that pace the rest of the match.

SIUE swept the second and the third set before UMKC tied it up in set four. Tied 23-23 in the fourth set, Knoche picked up a service ace. Demetria Williams added a kill on set point to send the match to the fifth set.

"I give our team a lot of credit because we had good spurts. We'd kill our momentum then we'd fight back and regain it. It's nice to see us have that kind of resiliency," Gober said.

SIUE freshman Kelsey Augustine stepped in to serve with the set tied 8-8 and would serve up four straight points for the Cougars. Augustine began the run with a kill of her own and also had a service ace.

Winslow, a senior, would close out the event with a kill on match point.

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