CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Kelsey Augustine and Kristen Torre each collected 13 kills Friday as SIUE volleyball rolled to a 25-22, 29-27, 25-13 victory at Austin Peay.

It was the third road win during Ohio Valley Conference play this season for the Cougars and the first in straight sets. The Cougars improved to 5-4 in the OVC and 9-13 overall. Austin Peay, which entered the evening with the OVC lead in the West Division, fell to 6-3 in the OVC and 9-16 overall.

SIUE Head Coach Leah Johnson's team finished with a .222 hitting percentage for the match, marking the third straight match in which the Cougars have hit above the .200 mark in efficiency.

"Our game plan was to get it to the middles every chance we could get," said Johnson. "Our middles did their job by keeping it in play and being efficient."

Augustine hit .370 (13 kills, three errors) for the match while Torre hit .545 (13 kills, one error).

"Both were fantastic," Johnson said.

SIUE's defense set the tone early with 24 digs in the opening set. Chelsea Colclasure, the OVC's leader in digs per set, led all players with 20 digs. "Twenty digs in three set: That's not shabby," Johnson added.

Austin Peay led by as many as six points at 18-12 in the opening set. Once the Cougars got into sync on the defensive end, the points started to pile up. Kasey Schumacher served seven straight points at the end of the set, and Torre completed the comeback with her eighth kill of the set.

SIUE fell behind once again by six in the second set, this time at 19-13, but an 11-3 run by the Cougars put the Governors on their heels. Austin Peay and SIUE would tie 14 times during the set, and the Governors survived five set points before Augustine and Mallory Mangun blocked APSU's Samantha Strother for set point.

Lauren Henderson led the Governors with nine kills. SIUE outhit Austin Peay 47-36 in kills.

The Cougars dominated the third set, holding Austin Peay to just five kills. SIUE also had six service aces in the final set with three from Cori Harris.

"This should be the starting point for us in the second half," said Johnson.

The Cougars continue this road trip Saturday for a 2 p.m. match at Murray State. After the match with the Racers, SIUE will have five of its final six conference matches at home.