MURRAY, Ky. - SIUE volleyball won the opening set Tuesday but wasn't able to keep that pace in a four-set loss at Murray State.

The loss was the fourth straight for the Cougars and the second to Murray State this season. SIUE fell 23-25, 27-25, 25-22, 25-22 to the Racers, now 4-14 overall and 4-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

SIUE Head Coach Leah Johnson said that despite the loss the Cougars, 7-13 overall and 2-6 in the OVC, have the right attitude. "Their mentality is in the right place. They know they need to keep pushing. We just need to come out of the gate with that attitude."

Outside hitter Emma Anderson and middle hitter Kelsey Augustine led the Cougars with 15 kills each.

Johnson said Anderson was the focus of the attack early as the Cougar freshman recorded 12 of her 15 kills in the first two sets. After the break between the second and the third set, SIUE adjusted to set its middle and right-side hitters more. That left an opening for Augustine, who had 12 of her 15 kills in the final two sets.

The Cougars also made the move to add Cori Harris on the right-side attack. The sophomore finished with eight kills and played in all six rotations with the move. "I think she did a good job there. It really gives us some versatility."

Wendi Zickfield paced the Racers with 21 kills. She led four Racers in double figures kills as Murray State hit .233 for the match.

SIUE erased a six-point deficit in the first set to come back and take a 1-0 lead. Danielle Cushley entered the match at set point and picked up her fourth service ace of the season.

The Cougars missed out on set point in the second set after battling back and forth with Racers. With the set tied 24-24, Anderson put the Cougars ahead by a point with kill. The Racers, however, answered with back-to-back kills from Zickfield and the set-winning kill from Teresa Krog.

SIUE was down by nine points midway through in the third set but stormed back to within two at 24-22 on a kill by Augustine. Zickfield put the set away with a kill on their second set point.

The Cougars were down by as much as six points in the final set before once again closing the gap near the end. SIUE also recorded a season-best 10.5 blocks. Augustine led the Cougars with six blocks followed by five from Anderson.

Johnson said communication and mental errors need to be minimized as the Cougars move forward. "As a team, we need to improve on the little things."

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