COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – For the second consecutive day, the SIUE volleyball team battled into a fifth set and fell short.

Tennessee Tech, 7-11 overall and 2-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference, defended its home court Saturday with a 25-27, 25-14, 25-18, 23-25, 15-12 victory over the Cougars, now 8-9 overall and 0-2 in the OVC. It was nearly the same script as Friday with the Cougars winning the first and the fourth set.

"We had a competitive fire tonight that we did not have last night, but our competitive fire wavered," said SIUE Head Coach Leah Johnson.

Kristen Torre and Ashley Witt powered the Cougar offense with 19 kills each. That was a career high for Witt, a freshman outside hitter. Torre finished the weekend with 48 kills.

"We need more offensive tools," Johnson said. "We need more people who are going to be an offensive threat to our opponent because we're putting the burden of our offense on two people. We need a few other attackers to step up to the plate to be ready to get kills."

The Cougars couldn't overcome TTU's Cody Dodd who put up 30 kills on 74 attacks.

Johnson said much of SIUE's game is strong whether it's blocking, passing, or serving. Much of the focus will be on developing more options from its young offense.

"We need to keep developing players to come on for us. As they get better, we get better. We're going to keep pushing their development because I know they have that potential. We have to help them realize it now," she added.

SIUE now heads to Eastern Illinois for the final match on this road trip. The Cougars and the Panthers, both 0-2 in OVC play, face off Wednesday at 6 p.m.

 "I'd like to think we been battle tested and will come out with a chip on our shoulder to come out all systems go against Eastern Illinois," said Johnson. "They are a very good team. It is competitive in the OVC."