EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE volleyball dropped the first set of the match, but the Cougars rallied off three straight set wins for the second consecutive game in a row to down Tennessee Tech, 3-1 on Saturday afternoon at First Community Arena.
The Cougars improve to 10-9 on the season and 4-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play. TTU falls to 6-14 and 2-7.
After falling in the first frame, SIUE regrouped and hit its best attack percentage of the game in the second set at .367.
"Our team has been great at maintaining their composure after the first set," Head Coach Kendall Paulus said. "We'd love to take the first set; I know our players would love it."
SIUE concluded the match with a .169 hitting percentage while connecting on 51 attacks.
"We know we have the ability to be a high kill team," added Paulus. "We didn't have it in the first set. We needed to find new ways to make the ball hit the floor. We wanted to stay balanced. Heading into set three, all of our attackers had two or three kills. That's a balanced attack."
Inside the Numbers:
- Priscilla Jones led the Cougars' attack with 11 kills on a .348 attack percentage. Sydney Hummert also added double-digit kills with 10.
- Sophomore Paige Montgomery tied a career high in kills, registering seven. Savannah Christian also contributed seven kills while Elana Fuller and Jenna Taphorn picked up six apiece. ]
- At the net, Christian led the Cougars with a season-high five blocks. Priscilla Jones and Fuller added two each.
- On defense, Abi Banitt led SIUE with 18 digs. Hummert (14) and Drifka (11) also grabbed double-digit digs for double-doubles. Gabi Andrade set a career best mark in digs, concluding the match with 10.
- Alyse Drifka handed out a team-high 24 assists and Corinna Jones dished out 19. Jones also led SIUE at the service line with a pair of aces. Drifka and Hummert also tallied an ace.
Up Next: SIUE travels to UT Martin next weekend for a pair of matches. The Cougars and Skyhawks will clash on Friday at 6:00 p.m. before closing the weekend on Saturday at 11:00 a.m.
Stay connected with the Cougars all season long by following @SIUEVolleyball on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.