CARBONDALE, Ill.— The SIUE volleyball finished tournament play on Friday 2-0 at the Saluki Bash. The team defeated both Southeastern Louisiana and SIU Carbondale.

The team took on Southeastern Louisiana in the first match of the tournament, winning a 5-set thriller to start off the day. The Cougars took the victory with scores of 16-25, 25-15, 21-25, 25-20 and 15-12.

"This match was a great group effort," commented Head Coach Kendall Paulus. "We had some tough runs, but I'm really happy to see us bounce back.

Leading the way for the Cougars was Savannah Christian who tallied 13 kills and Hope Everett who contributed 12 kills to a Cougar victory. The team had two players record double-doubles in the game including Dylynn Otte who had 10 kills and 12 digs and Mallory Nicholson who had 18 assists and 10 digs. 

Despite being down 2 sets to one in the match, the Cougars dug deep and found a way to pull through.

"They made it really tough to put the ball away," Paulus added. "We learned a lot from this match and are really proud of how steady we stayed to win a tight fifth set."

The Cougars defeated the Salukis in the second match of the day by scores of, 25-23, 19-25, 25-20 and 25-17.

"The match this evening resembled the hard fought battle this morning," Paulus commented. "SIU Carbondale moved the ball around and challenged us in a variety of ways."

Everett continued to be an offensive weapon by finishing the evening with 11 kills, Christian added nine and Annie Ellis ended the evening with seven blocks.

"Our team has shown they can handle tough situations when they work together," Paulus finalized.  "They play best as a cohesive unit and that's how we respond best. The team was definitely proud to represent the SIUE community tonight."

The team will be back action tomorrow as they wrap-up the Saluki Bash at 11 a.m. against Alabama A&M.