KANSAS CITY, Mo. – SIUE volleyball's Kristen Torre accumulated 27 kills on just two errors in tournament play Friday and added a career-high 10 blocks in the opener, but the Cougars came up short.

The Cougars fell to Omaha 23-25, 18-25, 25-13, 25-14, 15-8 to open the Kangaroo Klassic and dropped a four-set decision to host UMKC 25-21, 25-21, 20-25, 25-22.

"We are getting a lot of good things to happen, but it's not being reflected in the results," said SIUE Head Coach Leah Johnson.

The Cougars were looking get a strong effort after the Omaha loss. Johnson said the team responded against UMKC.

"They (UMKC) are top 100 RPI program, and we had them on their heels," she said. The Cougars had leads in both the second and fourth set.

SIUE, now 1-7, has one more match left at the Kangaroo Klassic. The Cougars will play Bradley in an 11 a.m. contest Saturday.

Torre was sharp in both matches, hitting .455 against Omaha and .500 against UMKC. She is now ninth on the all-time kills list with 989 and needs 11 more to become the ninth Cougar to amass 1,000 career kills.

"She was impressive," added Johnson.

While Torre was consistent with double-digit kills, Taylor Joens recorded 11 against Omaha while Ashley Witt set a season high with 13 against UMKC.

SIUE's defense set a season best with 89 digs in the UMKC match. It was just the second time this season the Cougars have recorded more digs than their opponents.

Katie Shashack led SIUE with 24 digs, leading four players with double-digit digs in the team's first four-set match of the season.

Johnson said she feels like the team in making solid progress with four sophomore attackers and a sophomore libero.

"We have to keep looking forward," said Johnson.