COMMERCE, Texas -The Texas Southern University women's volleyball team continued its early-season schedule Sunday afternoon, battling Southern Illinois at the Field House before ultimately falling to the Salukis in straight sets, 25-21, 25-14, 25-21.

TSU and SIU were tied at 19-all in the first set but the Salukis recorded an acer and block to pull ahead 21-19. A service error drew TSU to within 21-20 but SIU recorded four of the next five points to seal the set.

SIU jumped out to a 7-1 lead to open set two but TSU countered and narrowed the gap to 9-7 thanks to a pair of kills from Lauren Battle. SIU answered with an 8-3 surge to pull ahead 17-10 and never looked back to seal set two 25-14.

The Tigers showed flashes of strong offensive and defensive play in the third set as they battled back from a 17-10 deficit to draw within 21-20 after Aliyah Spencer's and Ava Houston's assisted blocks. However, SIU regained control with a kill and closed out the match.

Texas Southern finished the match with 30 kills, 42 digs and four total blocks. The Tigers also saved some of their best offensive volleyball for the final set, recording 13 kills while hitting .256.

Lauren Battle and Selana Morales paced the Texas Southern attack with six kills apiece.

Battle added three assists, four digs and a service ace while finishing with a team-high 7.0 points.

TSU is back in action at 1 p.m. on Thursday at the University of Houston.