UMSL Falls to Cougars

Riverwomen Fight Back in Third Game, Lose 3-0

St. Louis, Mo. – The Missouri-St. Louis volleyball fell to visiting SIU Edwardsville on Saturday afternoon, falling 3-0 (30-20, 30-24, 33-31) to the Cougars.

SIUE grabbed the early lead in the first game, scoring five of the first six points. UMSL fought back and tied the game at 8-8, but the Cougars responded with a 6-1 run and led 14-9. SIUE extended that lead to as many as 12 points before closing out the first game 30-20. The Cougars got the first three points in the second game before UMSL came back to tie the game at 7-7. UMSL stayed within one point, trailing 11-10, when the Cougars scored the next three and would push their lead back to five points at 18-13. UMSL cut the deficit to three points at 19-16, but SIUE scored five straight and won the game 30-24. The third game was a back and forth battle the whole way. UMSL trailed 9-7 when the Cougars went on a 6-1 run and led 15-8. UMSL refused to cave in, fighting back to score seven straight points and tie the game at 15-15. The game would be tied 10 more times before the outcome was decided as neither team led by more than three points during that time. UMSL would take its first lead at 28-27 on an ace by Christina Blickhan (Quincy, Ill./Quincy) and the Riverwomen got the next point to lead 29-27. SIUE came back with three straight points to lead 30-29. UMSL got a kill from Heather Nichols (Black Earth, Wis./Edgewood) to tie it at 30-30 and with the game tied at 31-31, SIUE would score two straight to win 33-31.

UMSL was led by three players with nine kills each. Heather Nichols had nine kills and nine digs on the day, and Sarah Eisnaugle (Newark, Ill./Newark) and Claudia Medina (Las Cruces, N.M./Las Cruces) each had nine kills as well. Lisa Brinker (Washington, Mo./Washington) led the team with 33 assists.

UMSL is now 6-21 overall on the season and 6-9 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Riverwomen wrapped up their conference season with the game and will wait and see if they can move up into the conference tournament next weekend depending on how other teams finish. UMSL will host their final home game next week when they host Missouri Baptist in a nonconference game on Wednesday, November 2 at 7 pm.