EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – With a little help Tuesday night, SIUE volleyball has earned a spot in next week's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

The Cougars, 11-17 overall and 7-8 in the OVC, netted a position in the eight-team league tournament after Murray State, now 5-10 in OVC play, dropped a five-set home court match to Austin Peay. SIUE, which lost a five-set match to visiting Eastern Illinois Tuesday, has just one match left in the regular season, a noon meeting Saturday at Tennessee State.

"We've worked for three years to get our program to this point," said SIUE Head Coach Leah Johnson. "I feel like every bit of effort since the transition to Division I has contributed to this point. I wish we would have won tonight to get ourselves in, but we're going to focus on Tennessee State now to control our own destiny."

Johnson said the Cougars put in the work throughout the conference season to be in this position.

"I think this is just another stepping stone as we continue to move forward," she added.

SIUE closed out the 2013 home regular season schedule with a 25-22, 15-25, 25-14, 22-25, 15-8 thriller loss to Eastern Illinois. Three SIUE players recorded double figures in kills against the Panthers.

Sophomore Kristen Torre led all players with 15 kills. Senior Cori Harris and freshman Taylor Held added 14 kills each for the Cougars. For Held, it was a career high in kills and her best offensive effort of the season with a .480 hitting percentage.

"She (Held) had a really nice match," said Johnson. "I thought she played with the mental game of a veteran. She asserted herself blocking and attacking. She was someone we could rely on at any time in the match."

The Panthers, 18-10 overall and 12-3 in the OVC, were led by 14 kills from Reynae Hutchinson and 11 kills each from Chelsea Lee and Amy Martin.

The match was literally a roller coaster for both teams. After EIU won the first set, SIUE won the first nine points of the second set and cruised the rest of the way.

Every other set, the two teams took sizeable leads before EIU made the crucial run of the match in set five by closing out the Cougars.

"It was a battle of mental strength," said Johnson. "When we were our strongest, they were their weakest. When they were their strongest, we were our weakest."

Johnson was pleased with the heart of the Cougar lineup.

"It's good to battle with potentially one of the top two teams in the conference," Johnson said. "We were playing for something, and tonight we played like we were playing for something. That's very positive and encouraging as we prepare for Tennessee State."