EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Southeast Missouri's Colleen Yarber led all players with 22 kills Saturday as the Redhawks defeated SIUE 25-22, 22-25, 25-19, 25-21.

SIUE Head Coach Leah Johnson was upbeat after the match.

"We're motivated by how we played against who we think is, right now, the top team in our division with no disrespect to the other opponents because this is a great league," said Johnson. "They're (SEMO) playing really well. The fact is they are so competitive. We did take a set, and we made them have to earn every single point. We didn't just give them points, and that feels good. And that's a good place to build from."

The Cougars dropped to 5-8 overall and 1-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Southeast Missouri left with a 10-6 record and a 2-0 mark in OVC play.

Brianne Graunke led the SIUE offense with 12 kills and a team-leading .375 hitting percentage.

"She was very consistent and took big swings when she need to," said Johnson.

Emma Anderson added 11 kills as the Cougars finished with 52 kills overall.

SEMO led off the match with 18 kills in the first set led by the hot hand of Yarber. Brittney Kalinoski and Kelsey Keeve added 10 kills for the Redhawks.

"We knew they were going to come in fired up," added Johnson.

The Cougars fought back in the second set. SIUE won the first three points of the set and SEMO made it a back-and-forth set with seven ties and four lead changes. Tied 22-22 in the set, SIUE would win the final three points to even the match at one set apiece.

Johnson said the slate was clean as the two teams returned to the court tied going into the third set.

"Nothing is ever for sure. Each team has to step up and have some other way to score. I thought SEMO did that slightly better than we did," Johnson noted.

SIUE hit .217 for the match and picked up eight blocks, including four from Kelsey Augustine. SEMO hit .247 as a team and had four players in double-digit digs. Taylor Masterson finished with nine blocks for the Redhawks, including one on match point.

The Cougars now have a few days to practice for their next match. SIUE faces Eastern Illinois at the Vadalabene Center on Tuesday.  First serve is set for 7 p.m.