Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Volleyball Hosts Creighton, Drake In Conference Action
10/23/2002 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 23, 2002
Carbondale, Ill. - Southern Illinois (16-7, 7-4) will host Creighton and Drake this weekend in Missouri Valley Conference action Friday and Saturday in Davies Gym. Both matches are slated to begin at 7 p.m.
The Bluejays are 1-10 in the conference and 1-17 overall. SIU defeated the Jays in Omaha, Neb. earlier this season in four games.
"We need to keep our own system intact," said head coach Sonya Locke. "They are a huge blocking team. It will be a chore for us to not allow them to dominate in the blocking category."
Creighton's Sarah Beulke is at the top of the conference in blocking averaging 1.61 bpg.
Locke also mentioned the Jays have changed their offense since the last time SIU played them.
"They are running a 6-2 now, and the setter that we played against is now a hitter," said Locke.
Drake holds a 4-19 overall record and is 2-9 in league play coming into this weekend. The Salukis swept the Bulldogs earlier this year, and won both matches during the 2001 season.
"Drake is waiting for an opportunity to catch fire," said Locke. "They are young, but have the potential to be a good blocking/defensive team. We're going to need to slow them down, and run our best offense at them."
Locke said the key to this weekend is to out-pace the opponents.
SIU is coming off a split on the road against conference foes Illinois State and Indiana State. The Salukis lost to Illinois State in three games, but came back to beat Indiana State in four the next night. SIU currently shares the fourth spot in the conference with Illinois State.
