Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Austin Peay (Saluki/Best Inns Invite)
Volleyball Falls To Austin Peay 3-1 In Season Opener
08/29/2003 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 29, 2003
by Lou Antoine
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Senior Kelly Harman's second career double-double performance (16 kills, 17 digs) couldn't stop the Salukis from falling 3-1 (30-19, 27-30, 30-22, 32-30) to Austin Peay State University in the season opener for both teams at the 24th Saluki Invitational on Friday.
"I'm not real surprised at how things happened, but I expect them to be more disciplined in some areas, and they will as we continue to play. We're real deep. We are looking at who is going to be more consistent at this point. We know what they're capable of. Haley (Hann) and Jene' (Pulliam) have the ability to put the ball down, and they do that when given the opportunity," said SIU head coach Sonya Locke.
Freshman Haley Hann (15 kills, 7 digs), Jene' Pulliam (13 kills, 11 digs) and Holly Marita (34 assists, 11 digs) all had strong performances. Hann's .333 hitting percentage led SIU. Harman hit .300 in her best overall outing as a Saluki. The Salukis as a team hit .176, while the Lady Govs hit .282 in the match. Austin Peay had 11 blocks to SIU's six, while the Salukis had 81 digs to Austin Peay's 69.
SIU will face Denver at 11:00 a.m. and Iowa at 7 p.m. Saturday. Denver beat Iowa 3-2 in the first match of the tournament. The hawkeyes will face Austin Peay at 1 p.m. and Denver will face the Lady Govs at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.
"Tomorrow we'll just try to feed them more confidence and let them know that they're ok, because they really are. We all want to win, no question about that, but I think building confidence is important, instead of expecting them to win every time they step on the court. Pushing the right things with them, (winning) is going to start to happen," added Locke.
