CHICAGO  -  Volleyball is played best of five - the Cougars needed all five sets to earn their second victory of the season, completing a rare reverse sweep of the Eastern Kentucky Colonels on Saturday afternoon (18-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-23, 15-11).

The Colonels gave SIUE all they could handle in the opening two sets, hitting at a .357 clip in the first set and a .343 clip in the second to claim the sets by a combined 10 points. However, the Cougars' next point mentality proved to be the difference in the following three sets, as they would hold the EKU attackers to a hitting percentage of under .275 for the remainder of the match, outscoring the Colonels by a factor of 65-55. This is SIUE's first reverse sweep of the season and one of the season's first reverse sweeps in all of Division I.

"We love how hard we had to fight for that win," said SIUE Head Coach Kendall Paulus following the win. "Eastern Kentucky really challenged us defensively. To come back from two sets down is hard not just physically, but mentally. For us to pull that out and bounce back shows our grit."

Individually, the Cougars were led offensively by Julia Treichel and Savannah Christian, who registered 13 and 12 kills, respectively. Christian's efforts are doubly impressive, as she hit at a season-high .409. Drifka also led SIUE in assists with 25, followed closely by Grace Beekman's 17. The Cougars' blocking prowess also returned in today's match, as SIUE combined for a total of 15 team blocks to just six from the Colonels. Jessica Vineyard, who earned All-Tournament Team honors for the first time in her Cougar career, led all players with eight total blocks. Annie Ellis finished with six total blocks, equalling the total for the entire EKU side.

"We made a lot of substitute changes, line up changes, and always felt great team chemistry," added Paulus. "We had a lot of diverse players and that shows by how much we can move them around."

The Cougars will return to action next Friday when they make the long distance trip to Fort Collins, Colorado, for their final away nonconference weekend tournament of the season. First serve in their weekend opener against Colorado State is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. CT.