EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE won the opening set Saturday, but dropped a four-set decision to visiting Murray State in Ohio Valley Conference volleyball at the Vadalabene Center.

The Cougars took the opening set 26-24, but the Racers built momentum to win the next three sets 25-15, 25-23, 25-11. SIUE fell to 9-12 overall and 1-5 in the OVC.

"We started the match very good, and we had the lead in set three," said SIUE Head Coach Leah Johnson. "We were doing a lot of things right. They have been in situations like that and have been winning. We have been in situations like that and are about .500."

Scottie Ingram and Kristen Besselsen recorded 17 kills each for the Racers, which improved to 13-4 overall and 5-1 in the OVC.

Taylor Held and Ashley Witt led the Cougars with 12 kills each. Johnson said Murray State did a nice job of neutralizing SIUE middle blocker Kristen Torre, who had seven kills.

"I thought Kristen kept her head on and worked hard to look for other ways to score," Johnson added.

The Cougars now head to the road for their next four OVC matches. It begins next weekend with a 6:30 p.m. matchup Friday at Southeast Missouri and a 2 p.m. match at UT Martin next Saturday.

"It was a turning page weekend for us," said Johnson. "We played two of the top teams in the conference, and we showed we have the stuff to be competitive against that caliber of team. All of the teams we have played have been good. The gap between the top and the bottom in the OVC is very small. It's an exciting year for the OVC."