EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE volleyball collected its first Ohio Valley Conference victory of the season Friday night with a five-set thriller over visiting Austin Peay.

SIUE improved to 9-11 overall and 1-4 in the OVC with a 25-19, 19-25, 19-25, 25-23, 15-13 triumph. It was the first conference loss for the Governors, who fell to 10-11 overall and 4-1 in the OVC.

"Austin Peay is really good," said SIUE Head Coach Leah Johnson. "We beat a really good team. The challenge for us is to be consistent like that so we can be that team as well."

Johnson said she challenged her team to step up the intensity during practice this past week and let it show on the court.

"I was very proud of them for showcasing what great volleyball looks like, and there was great volleyball on both sides of the net," Johnson said.

SIUE's Kristen Torre led all players with 20 kills. It was just the second time this season the junior middle blocker has passed 20 kills in a match.

Ashley Witt and Taylor Held each finished with 11 kills for the Cougars.

"We got good offense from everyone. Taylor Joens came in and did a good job. It was nice to see her make a difference," said Johnson. Joens recorded all six of her kills in the final two sets.

SIUE finished with 61 kills to Austin Peay's 54. The Cougars, ranked No. 3 in the nation in service aces, used nine service aces to defeat the Governors.

In the opening set, Chelsea Colclasure helped the Cougars make a run with her serving. SIUE was down 6-3 and found itself ahead 9-7 when she was finished. Mallory Mangun also made a serving run in the first set that helped put the Cougars up early.

Austin Peay, behind 14 kills from Jada Stotts and 11 each from Sammie Ebright and Ashley Slay, would win the next two sets while taking advantage of SIUE's offensive attack errors.

SIUE got back into the flow of the match in the fourth set, winning the final two points after being tied 23-23. A pair of kills by Torre sent the match into a fifth set.

Johnson credited SIUE's defense which had 65 digs, including 17 from Colclasure.

"Chelsea Colclasure dug the ball on a dime so we could run transition offense tonight," said Johnson.

After the fifth set was tied 3-3, SIUE took control with as much as a four-point lead. The Cougars won on the first match point on an APSU attack error that was just wide from Slay.

SIUE returns to action for a 2 p.m. match Saturday against Murray State.