CHARLESTON, Ill. – SIUE volleyball completed its first Ohio Valley Conference road series of the season with a four-set loss at Eastern Illinois.

Eastern Illinois improved to 8-8 overall and 2-1 in the OVC with a 25-18, 27-25, 23-25, 25-20 victory over the Cougars. SIUE fell to 5-11 overall and 1-2 in the OVC.

SIUE will have a few days of rest before its OVC home opener Saturday. The Cougars take on Belmont in a 2 p.m. game that part of Homecoming Week at SIUE.

"It will be fun to be back home and take on the returning OVC Tournament champions," said SIUE Head Coach Leah Johnson.

Cori Harris led SIUE Tuesday with 17 kills, which matches her career high. Harris also led the Cougars with a .378 hitting percentage.

Outside hitter Hilary Trevino added 11 kills for SIUE.

"I was pleased to see our outside hitters be terminal," Johnson said. The problem, Johnson noted, was that the Cougars continue to have too many attack errors. The Cougars had 29 or more errors for the third straight match.

EIU used a 5-0 run in the opening set to take an early one set lead. The Panthers came from behind in the second set. After SIUE had a set point at 24-23, EIU would score four of the next five points to take a two-set lead.

The EIU trio of Abby Saalfrank, Chelsea Lee, and Reynae Hutchinson all finished with 16 kills and each had a key kill in the second-set comeback.

"We were not terminal enough and gave up easy points," said Johnson. "It could have been a whole new ball game."

SIUE fought back in the third set behind six kills from Harris. Johnson said the Cougars can't rely on one player.

"We didn't have all of the right pieces to finish the match," Johnson said.

EIU used a 10-3 run in the fourth set after the match was tied 10-10. EIU finished the match with a .256 hitting percentage.