CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.- SIUE volleyball fell in four sets at Southeast Missouri on Friday night at Houck Field House. The Cougars took victory in the first set, but the Redhawks regrouped to blank SIUE in three straight sets. The set scores were: 27-25, 22-25, 20-25, and 23-25.
Following the loss, SIUE drops to 11-15 overall and 6-9 in Ohio Valley Conference play. Southeast Missouri improved to 13-14 and 8-7.
Trailing 4-1 in the first frame, SIUE used a 5-0 run to take a two-point lead over the Redhawks. The two would trade leads back and forth until the Redhawks took a five-point lead at 21-16. However, the Cougars would respond on an 8-1 run to take a two-point lead at 24-22. Tied at 25 apiece, back-to-back kills from the Cougars would jolt SIUE to a 1-0 advantage. The Cougars finished the first set with a .070 attack percentage but used four service aces and four blocks to edge SEMO, 27-25 in the opening frame.
Down 6-3 in the second, the Cougars went on a 9-0 rally to take a seven-point advantage over Southeast Missouri. However, the Redhawks would find their footing, grabbing a six-point lead over SIUE after a 15-2 run. SIUE would close its gap to two points at Southeast Missouri's match point, but SEMO would ultimately take a 25-22 victory to even the match.
Despite the third being tied up seven times in the early stages of the third set, SEMO caught fire after a 4-1 run to take the lead at 11-8 and held the advantage for the remainder of the set. SIUE would have its best attack percentage of the night at .118, but the Redhawks' .342 hitting percentage was too much to overcome, as SEMO won the third frame, 25-20.
The Cougars and Redhawks traded points early in the fourth, but SEMO would take a two-point lead over SIUE at 16-14 and hold its advantage for the remainder of the set. The Cougars showed fight late to tie the set at 23, but SEMO would take back-to-back points to take a 3-1 victory.
Savannah Christian led the SIUE attack with 11 kills in the match for a .286 clip. Sydney Hummert and Ainsley Ranstead would also add kills for the Cougars, with nine and eight.
The Cougars recorded 12 total blocks in the match, led by senior Jessica Vineyard with eight for a new career high. Hummert also recorded a career-best with six, while Priscilla Jones would add four.
SIUE's 11 service aces against SEMO tied a season-high mark, led by Gabi Andrade who finished with a career-high four.
On defense, Nicole Kijowski and Alyse Drifka led SIUE, collecting 16 digs. Caroline Waite also added 14. Waite (14 digs, 16 assists) and Drifka (16 digs, 15 assists) finished with double-doubles.
SIUE and the Skyhawks will square off again tomorrow, Nov. 5 at 2:00 p.m. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.
