Aug. 30, 2011

NORMAL, Ill. - SIUE volleyball made its first venture away from the Vadalabene Center Tuesday and dropped a four-set decision to intrastate rival Illinois State 25-21, 25-18, 16-25, 25-19.

The Cougars, 2-3, were led by freshman outside hitter Emma Anderson who recorded a team-best 12 kills. Chelsea Colclasure and Julia Whitfield led the defense with 13 and 12 digs, respectively.

"Emma played like a veteran," said SIUE Head Coach Leah Johnson. "She was playing well in all six rotations.

Illinois State evened its record to 2-2 behind a 16-kill effort from Shannon McLaughlin. Angela Rego added 10 kills for the Redbirds.

After being down two sets to none, SIUE stormed back in the third set of the match held at Redbird Arena. The Cougars used four kills from Lexi Cibulka and three from Anderson in the set. SIUE also took advantage of nine attack errors by Illinois State.

"Lexi made a big difference to score points," said Johnson. "They (Illinois State) made some adjustments and were able to stop her later, but she did a nice job to come off the bench."

Johnson said she challenged her team to come back after dropping the first two sets. The Cougars responded in the third set and were down 17-16 late in the fourth set but were unable to send the match to a deciding fifth set. "We just stopped passing the ball in the fourth set."

Both teams struggled with consistency on offense. SIUE committed 28 attack errors while Illinois State recorded 30. The Cougars hit .090 for the match while the Redbirds managed a .150 hitting percentage.

The Cougars return to action this weekend at the Indiana State Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind. SIUE faces Western Illinois and Savannah State Saturday as well as host Indiana State Sunday.

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