CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.  -  In their first Ohio Valley Conference road trip of the 2021 season, SIUE volleyball fell in straight sets to the Austin Peay Governors on Friday night (17-25, 16-25, 21-25).

The Cougars started off strong, building a 5-1 lead to begin the opening set and not surrendering the lead through the media timeout. Following the stoppage, the Governors caught lightning and stormed ahead thanks to a 10-0 scoring run. During that run, Governors outside Brooke Moore registered eight kills and finished the set with three additional kills. Moore totaled 21 kills on 47 attempts with just two errors, good for a .422 hitting percentage. The second set saw a back-and-forth affair for the bulk of the game, but another late scoring run doomed the Cougars' outstanding offensive efforts and handed the hosts a second-set win. The third set ran in similar fashion to the second, with both squads trading blows; however, despite a late offensive outburst from Annie Ellis and the Cougars, the Governors' powerful front line proved too much for the Red & White to handle and APSU would claim the third set and win the match.

"It's hard to tell by the score, but I thought we competed well from the start," said SIUE Head Coach Kendall Paulus following the contest. "We need to find out how to finish as strong as we start and not let opponents get on as many runs. We created more swings which we wanted in transition, but passing struggled more than usual so siding out was a challenge."

The Cougars were led individually led by Julia Treichel, who registered eight kills and 11 digs to nearly notch her seventh double-double of the season. Savannah Christian also registered eight kills on 14 attempts with no errors, good for an outstanding .571 hitting percentage. Sydney Hummert led the Cougars with nine kills. Alyse Drifka, who entered the match coming off a career-best 35 assists, notched 29 in Friday's contest. Grace Hurst, who donned the libero jersey against the Governors, led SIUE with 15 digs.

SIUE, who drops to 3-11 and 0-3 in OVC play, will close out their time in Clarksville tomorrow morning, as the Cougars will face off against the Governors at 11 a.m.