DAYTON, Ohio – SIUE middle blocker Taylor Joens earned All-Holiday Inn Invitational honors after SIUE completed play Saturday.

The Cougars finished the tournament with a pair of losses Saturday. Dayton topped SIUE 20-25, 25-14, 25-23, 25-19. Toledo edged the Cougars in a five-set thriller 28-30, 25-16, 27-25, 23-25, 15-11. SIUE started the tournament against host Wright State with a win Friday night.

SIUE volleyball Head Coach Leah Johnson was upbeat after the weekend's play.

"We matched up well with those teams," said Johnson. "We were equally matched up today with Dayton, and they will compete for a conference title in the Atlantic 10. We had a really close match with Toledo with three sets decided by two points. It was a great weekend."

Joens earned All-Tournament honors after recording 32 kills for the weekend and a team-leading .213 hitting percentage among SIUE hitters. Joens added 10 blocks and a team-leading four service aces.

"Taylor Joens was our most consistent player for the weekend," said Johnson. "She made adjustments well."

Johnson was very happy with the team's serve receive but felt the team needed to be more aggressive with its serving game.

"I thought we were challenged in ways to make us grow," she said. "We saw people put in positions they had previously been in, and we stayed aggressive."

SIUE opens the home schedule next weekend with its own round-robin tournament featuring Green Bay and Evansville. The Cougars play Green Bay next Friday at 7 p.m. and Evansville next Saturday at 7 p.m. Green Bay and Evansville face each other Saturday at noon.