EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.  -  SIUE volleyball needed some results to go their way on Monday night to secure their place in the postseason - they got just what they needed, and the Cougars have locked up the No. 4 seed in the 2021 Ohio Valley Conference Volleyball Tournament.

"We came in ready to battle," said SIUE Head Coach Kendall Paulus. "We've known for a few weeks now what's been on the line, so I loved seeing that the pressure didn't get to us. And we really just wanted to be playing our best volleyball here at the end no matter what, and we wanted to feel that we had a successful weekend if we couldn't control things outside of what's going on this gym."

But before anything, the Cougars had to take care of business and secure a victory at home against in-state rival Eastern Illinois. The Red & White did just that, sweeping the Panthers in convincing fashion. SIUE won the first and second sets by a score of 25-16, before taking the decisive third set, 25-21. Sydney Hummert led all players with 11 kills and 13 digs, Annie Ellis notched nine kills to hit for an outstanding .421 clip, and Rachel McDonald registered eight kills and 12 digs. Savannah Christian and Hope Everett recorded six and five kills, respectively. Sarah Armendariz once again proved how effective she is from the setter position, assisting on 33 Cougar kills. Jordyn Klein and Grace Hurst led the SIUE defensive effort, collecting 29 digs between the two of them.

"The fact that it went from eight teams going to the Tournament to four, we know we always have teams tied to get into the Tournament, so we knew every match mattered all season," said Paulus. "But we also had to stay healthy at the same time and understand what that looked like in protocols, and the fact that we had been able to compete as long as we have and practice as often as we could, I'm just really proud of them for all the hard work they put in and we had a lot of fun doing it and getting better. Not one week did we let up like it was going to be an easy week - we came ready to play every week, but I think it was because they were invested in each other."

The Cougars will finish the regular season at 10-4, boasting a 6-2 record at home and a 4-2 record on the road. SIUE will play at No. 1 seed Morehead State in the OVC Tournament Semifinals on Thursday at 5 p.m. CT (6 p.m. ET). The tournament will be held at Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky, and further details will be available at a later date.

"We have fantastic senior leaders," added Paulus. "We have great leadership on our team in general, but our seniors really made sure that everyone felt like they had a big role. I'm very proud of where we are right now. We're going to the Tournament and we're going to keep playing our best volleyball."