EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Despite dropping the first set Friday, SIUE volleyball swept the next three for a 19-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-22 victory over Southeast Missouri at the Vadalabene Center.

SIUE, 2-5 in Ohio Valley Conference play and 4-13 overall, grabbed some momentum heading into tomorrow's Dig Pink match against UT Martin at 2 p.m.

"I'm really excited about where we are at," said SIUE Head Coach Leah Johnson. "If we can battle point for point, then we have an advantage on our home court."

Southeast Missouri, 7-13 overall and 3-4 in the OVC, got off to a strong start with 16 kills in the opening set. Six different Southeast players recorded a kill during the set. Madalyn Werths would lead the way for the Redhawks with 15 kills overall followed by 11 from Nzingha Clarke.

"SEMO came out hot in the first set," said Johnson.

SIUE's Kristen Torre led the Cougars the rest of the way with 17 kills and a career-high .667 hitting percentage.

"That's pretty impressive because after set one she wasn't really going yet." said Johnson.

Ashley Witt added 15 kills for the Cougars.

SIUE found itself down 18-17 in the third set when the rotation came around to Katie Shashack's serve. The sophomore libero reeled off eight straight points for the Cougars to take the set.

Johnson said the team has been talking about fighting through points and fighting through adversity.

"Some of those effort points – that's what paid off in that eight-point run," she said.

SIUE fell behind by five points in the fourth set at 18-13 but rallied late behind serves from Mallory Mangun and Taylor Joens.

"We're playing confident. We found a little bit of heart in our defensive game," said Johnson.