MOREHEAD, Ky. – Seventh-seeded SIUE punched its ticket into the finals of the Ohio Valley Conference Volleyball Tournament Friday with a four-set victory over Eastern Kentucky.

The Cougars will play top-seeded and tournament host Morehead State which came back  from two sets down to defeat No. 5 seed Austin Peay in five sets in the other semifinal match. Saturday's championship match is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT and will be shown live on ESPN3.

SIUE volleyball, which won its season-high third straight match and five out of its last six, continued to make the most of its first appearance in the OVC Tournament with a 25-23, 23-25, 25-21, 25-18 triumph over the No. 6 seed Colonels.

SIUE Head Coach Leah Johnson said she doesn't plan to make too many adjustments for Saturday's championship match.

"We will rely on what got us here," she said. "We trust that the style of play that we feel confident playing is what we will hold true to. We don't need to change anything. We need to trust our side of the net to be efficient and in system as best we can."

On Friday, senior middle hitter Kelsey Augustine led all players with 17 kills and added three solo blocks while hitting .343.

Kristen Torre and Cori Harris added 14 and 12 kills, respectively, for the Cougars, which improved to 14-17 overall. Torre led all players with a .375 hitting percentage. Outside hitter Taylor Held also recorded 10 kills and hit an impressive .320.

"That all starts with good ball control – both serve receive and defense," said Johnson. "I felt like we passed and dug in system. When we did, we were able to use our middles. Mallory (Mangun) did an excellent job of giving them the ball even when it was slightly less than perfect."

Mangun, the OVC Freshman of the Year, collected 53 assists and directed an offense that hit .248 for the match.

Eastern Kentucky, which finished its season 18-16, was led by 19 kills from Ashley Edmond.

The Cougars got the match started by establishing its strength in the middle. Torre and Augustine combined for 12 of SIUE's 18 kills in the opening set.

The Colonels evened the match in the second set behind six kills from Ashley Vick.

SIUE was put on the defensive in set three. The Cougars fell behind by as much as eight points at 12-4. After the Cougars called a timeout, it went on a stunning 12-2 run forcing EKU to take a pair of timeouts as the Cougars gained a 16-14 lead.

"We went through some rough spots during the match, said Johnson. " I thought it showed a lot of courage and a lot of character."

The two teams went back and forth as the match was tied 20-20. That's when SIUE's offense took over the match. SIUE pounded five kills for its final five points of the set, including three from Held.

Augustine saved the best for the closing set. She hit .600 in the final frame with six kills on 10 attacks. After tieing 6-6, SIUE was in control of the match. SIUE would win six of the next seven points to take a 15-9 lead and then pushed forward for the victory.

NOTES:

-- Since the OVC started recording seeds for the conference tournament in 1998, SIUE is the lowest seed to earn a spot in the OVC Tournament finals. The tournament was just six teams from 1998 to 2011. The tournament expanded to eight teams in 2012.

-- SIUE's 14 wins ties for the most wins during the Division I era.

-- The Cougars are now 7-1 this season against Eastern Division teams. SIUE had defeated Belmont and Eastern Kentucky earlier this season in back-to-back matches. SIUE's lone loss was at Morehead State in four sets.