EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.- The Cougars returned to First Community Arena on Friday night vs. UT Martin after a five-game midseason road swing. SIUE was swept in three sets by the Skyhawks with scores of 16-25, 20-25 and 26-24.

Following the loss, SIUE falls to 11-13 overall and 6-7 in Ohio Valley Conference play. UT Martin, boasting the top record in the OVC, improves to 17-9 and 11-2.

"They're (UT Martin) the number one team in the conference and tonight we saw why. They're extremely versatile, run a ton of different plays, have active setters, and score from pin to pin," said head coach Kendall Paulus. "We have to find ways to score in tomorrow's match to be successful."

The Skyhawks controlled the match in the first set, racing off to an 8-1 lead and never looked back, winning the first set 25-16. UT Martin hit .353 in the opening frame compared to the Cougars' .105.

SIUE took a 9-7 lead in the beginning of the second, but UT Martin followed up with a 10-1 run to push its lead to 17-10. The Cougars improved their attack percentage to hit .294 in the frame, but UT Martin did the same, hitting .391 to grab a 2-0 advantage.

The third frame played back and forth, until the Cougars took a four-point lead at 17-13. However, UT Martin fought their way back into the match, knotting the set up at 23 late in the set after a 5-0 run. Tied at 24, the Skyhawks took the final points on a kill and block to win the match.

"We need to hit another level with our effort tomorrow if we want to get the win," added Paulus.

Pacing the Cougars' attack was Sydney Hummert who finished the match with a team-high 12 kills. Jessica Vineyard and Ainsley Ranstead also added kills, with seven and six respectively. Vineyard also led the Cougars with three blocks.

The setting duo of Carline Waite and Alyse Drifka finished the match with a combined 31 assists. Waite dished out 17 while Drifka collected 14. On defense, Nicole Kijowski had a match-high 21 digs.

For UT Martin, Karen Scanlon led all attackers in the match with 16 kills. At the net, Mia Saenz led all blockers with five.

SIUE and UT Martin will go head-to-head tomorrow, Oct. 29 at 2:00 p.m. The match will be steamed on ESPN+ and LiveStats will be provided.