RICHMOND, Ky. - It all came down to a short run in the fifth set, and Eastern Kentucky edged Southern Illinois University Edwardsville volleyball 24-26, 25-20, 25-22, 24-26, 15-7.

SIUE dropped to 12-14 overall while Eastern Kentucky, also a member of the Ohio Valley Conference, improved to 11-15.

"I thought it was a very evenly played match," said SIUE Head Coach Todd Gober. "We matched up with them well. It was just a game of momentum."

Both teams played a strong defensive match. SIUE recorded 85 digs, including a career-high 36 digs from libero Karie Downing. It was the second most ever recorded by a Cougar player. The school record is 44 set by Allison Buss during the 2004 season.

"Karie Downing had a tremendous match," Gober said.

EKU matched the Cougars with 103 digs. That's the most given up by the Cougars since the 2007 season.

Julia Whitfield recorded a team-high 16 kills followed by 14 from Sydney Winslow and 12 from Kelsey Mosher. Gober lauded Mosher's recent play after she equaled her career best in kills.

"Mosher had a good match today. She followed up a good match yesterday with a good match today," said Gober.

Lauren Snyder sparked the Colonels with 16 kills followed by 14 from Ashley Edmond.

"They got a few more lucky breaks. When you play an evenly matched game sometimes it comes down to who gets more breaks. That's not to take anything away from them; I give credit to EKU," Gober said.

SIUE won the first set but would drop the next two. Rather than allow three straight sets, Winslow stepped in the fourth set with five of her kills and two solo blocks.

"Sydney served a great match today. She had a couple of big kills to help us win that fourth set," Gober said.

SIUE now heads to Western Illinois for a rematch with the Leathernecks. The two teams dueled to a five-set match with the Leathernecks taking the win on Oct. 11 at the Vadalabene Center. SIUE's season comes to a close next weekend at Austin Peay and Tennessee State.

"We'd like to finish .500. That's a definite goal. I kept telling the girls we need to steal a win somewhere. We still need to steal a win. That will be difficult with three more matches on the road," Gober said.

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