EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The first three sets came down to just two points each, and the SIUE volleyball team came up short in a four-set loss to Tennessee Tech.

The Golden Eagles outlasted 28 tie scores and 10 lead changes to defeat the Cougars 25-23, 24-26, 29-27, 25-13 Friday night at the Hooper-Eblen Center.

The Cougars fell to 8-16 overall and 4-9 in the Ohio Valley Conference. SIUE next faces Jacksonville State in a 3 p.m. match Saturday.

"We just made little errors that changed the entire game," said SIUE Head Coach Leah Johnson.

"I thought we passed the ball really well," she added. It was a defensive effort that frustrated the Cougars. SIUE finished with 60 digs in the four-set match.

Cori Harris led the offense with 12 kills. Brianne Graunke finished with nine, including five in the first set. Brooke Smith came off the bench for a team-leading .368 hitting percentage with eight kills and one attack error.

"Brooke did a good job coming off the bench. She had some of the more aggressive serves of the match," Johnson said.

Cody Dodd came off Tennessee Tech's bench to lead all players with 14 kills. Audrey Lewis and Ellen Conti added 12 each for the Golden Eagles, which improved to 3-22 overall and 1-12 in conference play.