EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Southern Illinois University Edwardsville took a split at its own tournament Saturday, defeating The Citadel in three sets and then falling to Ball State in three sets.

SIUE downed The Citadel 25-18, 25-13, 25-13 and dropped the match to Ball State 25-23, 25-20, 25-18.

SIUE Head Coach Todd Gober opened the day with new hope after a tough four-set loss to Indiana State Friday night.

"I'm very happy with the way we rebounded from last night," said Gober.

SIUE hit an impressive .367 as a team against the Bulldogs. Jessica Hemann was powerful in the middle with 12 kills and no errors on 20 attacks. Sydney Winslow was equally as effective on the right side with nine kills and no errors on 15 attacks. Sophomore middle hitter Brianne Graunke also finished with nine kills.

The Cougars played strong defense against the Bulldogs with 46 digs, including 16 from libero Karie Downing.

"It's nice when you can execute a game plan and a much better performance in key areas today," said Gober. "The goals we set out for in this match we met, and I'm happy that we were able to execute a strategy."

The Cougars attempted to knock off a Ball State team which had won its previous two matches in the Cougar Classic. The Cardinals controlled the net with 11 blocks and made fewer attack errors as the difference in the match.

"I thought we competed hard. It's not a matter of effort with this team. It's a matter of finding a way to finish (the last five points of the match)," Gober said.

SIUE hit .090 against Ball State with Lexi Cibulka providing nine kills to lead the Cougars.

"Brianne (Graunke) had a tremendous game tonight as Ball State shut down Jessica (Hemann) for the first time this season," Gober said. Graunke was second on the team in kills against Ball State with eight. Defense kept the Cougars close with double-digit digs from Downing and Julia Whitfield.

Kelsey Brandl powered the offensive attack for Ball State. She finished with 12 kills, six blocks and a .429 hitting percentage.

"Ball State took advantage of any mistake we made. We found out that if you make a mistake it resulted in a point immediately," Gober added.

Ball State improved to 3-0 while SIUE dropped to 1-2.

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