FT. COLLINS, Colo.  -  SIUE volleyball dropped a pair of matches on Friday to start their final non-conference road trip of the season, falling in straight sets to host Colorado State in the afternoon before narrowly dropping the nightcap to UAB in four sets.

Following a challenging start to the day, the Cougars bounced back to give the UAB Blazers their most competitive match of the day. The Blazers edged the Cougars in the opening set, claiming it 25-17. SIUE would then find their rhythm, hitting at an impressive .379 clip as a team and returning to form as a potent defensive side to claim a 25-20 second set victory. The third set proved to be a back-and-forth affair, but it would be the Blazers held SIUE to a .256 hitting percentage to earn a narrow 25-21 win. The Cougars would run out of steam in the fourth set, giving UAB their second win of the day.
Savannah Christian posted an outstanding effort in the match, registering a team-high 14 kills and hitting over .400 for the second time in three matches. Drifka again led the Cougars in assists, this time passing the 20-dig milestone for the seventh match this season. Grace Beekman dished 11 assists in the match, good for second-most on the team.

As a team, the Cougars led the Blazers in total team blocks, blocking nine Blazer attempts on the day.

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The Cougars will close out their non-conference road schedule with a 12 p.m. match against Pac-12 Conference foe Oregon State. This will be the first Power Five opponent for SIUE since 2018.