EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE volleyball picked up a pair of victories in the final day of the SIUE Cougar Invitational.

SIUE, which closed out the non-conference portion of the 2013 schedule, improved to 4-9 with a four-set win over Georgia State 21-25, 25-13, 25-22, 26-24 and a three-set triumph over Arkansas-Pine Bluff 25-23, 25-14, 25-19.

"I was pleased with the overall play," said SIUE Head Coach Leah Johnson. "Everyone who is healthy played today. People contributed in high-stakes moments and contributed in runaways. Everyone contributed in the game positively."

Johnson said the offense was spread out enough that players were finding different ways to score. A focus on serving in practice also has led to improvements in the offense.

"We have focused in practice on serving more aggressive and strategic type of serving," said Johnson. "We're much more aware of how our serving game affects the outcome."

SIUE finished with 12 service aces for the day, including seven against Georgia State. Cori Harris, Kelsey Augustine, and Chelsea Colclasure had two each in the match.

SIUE found much of its offense Saturday from its middle hitters. Augustine led the Cougars with 15 kills against Georgia State and 10 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Torre added 13 against Georgia State and nine against UAPB.

"That's one of our trademarks right now – that we can set the ball to the middle so far off the net," said Johnson. "They are making themselves available."

After defeating Arkansas-Pine Bluff earlier in the day, the Cougars, 4-9, had a tough task in facing Georgia State, now 5-9.

The Panthers would win the final four points of the opening set behind the serving of Gabby Serafin.

Georgia State's offense committed 10 errors in the second set while SIUE hit .276 for the set to easily tie up the match.

Dede Bohannon led the Panthers with 13 kills as the team hit .128 for the match. SIUE hit .165 overall.

The Cougars kept in rolling behind Augustine, who recorded six of her kills in the third set. Georgia State pushed back in the fourth set, but SIUE collected the win on its third attempt to win the set. Hilary Trevino's kill would close it out.

Johnson said SIUE's strong play in Friday's loss against DePaul made the Cougars believe.

"That loss said something about this team," Johnson said. "I think we saw that in set four by closing it out that we were going to be that competitive."

SIUE begins Ohio Valley Conference play with three consecutive road matches to start the season. It begins Friday with a 7 p.m. contest at UT Martin.

All-Tournament Team
MVP-Tyler Graham, DePaul
Abbie Fleener, DePaul
Colleen Smith, DePaul
Chelsea Colclasure, SIUE
Kelsey Augustine, SIUE
Emily Averbeck, Georgia State
Kitan Ajanaku, Georgia State
Jordan Foyer, Arkansas-Pine Bluff