Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Volleyball Faces Evansville In First MVC Road Match On Tuesday
09/20/2004 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 20, 2004
By Lou Antoine
SIUSalukis.com
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CARBONDALE, Ill. - Following a split in its first two MVC home matches, Southern Illinois plays its first Valley match on the road Tuesday against Evansville.
The Salukis (3-6, 1-1 MVC), who beat SMS 3-2 and lost to Wichita State 3-1, will face an Evansville (6-4, 0-2 MVC) squad that was swept 3-0 by both Wichita State and SMS at home last weekend.
"We are focused on Evansville, which is a good team. Our matches with them are always tough and that's what we're expecting. We need to take care of our side of the court and we'll be able to get a win. Traditionally they're very good on defense. They have a new system so we'll have to exploit any weaknesses they present, pass the ball well and play good defense and we can come away with a win," said Sonya Locke, SIU head coach.
"I told the players that this is another opportunity to get a win and move toward the goal of reaching the MVC Tournament. If you win every home match you have a good shot at getting to the tournament, but if we lose at home, we need to make up for that with road wins, and the Evansville match is a chance to do that."
The Salukis hold a 24-4 all-time series advantage, including a 19-4 mark versus the Purple Aces under Locke. Southern has won five of the last six against Evansville, including a split in 2003.
SIU had plenty of strong performances last weekend, led by junior middle blocker Marissa Washington, who hit a team-high .429 (T-4th in MVC) in Valley play. She leads SIU with a .373 mark overall (4th in MVC) and 28 blocks.
Sophomore setter Holly Marita leads the MVC in league play with 114 assists and is tied for first in Valley play at 12.67 assists per game. Her 390 overall assists ranks fourth in the MVC. Marita's 68 assists against SMS were a career-high and ties for eighth in SIU history.
In addition to Washington and Marita, senior libero Erica Miller's 37 digs leads the league in MVC play, and her 4.11 digs per game average is third in league play. Miller set a career-high with 24 digs in the win over SMS and her 153 digs and 4.37 digs per game overall ranks fourth in the Valley.
Megan Spurlock (136 kills, 4.00 kpg, 19 blocks) and Lacy Haller (87 kills, 30 blocks) lead the Purple Aces. The match will take place at 7 p.m. in the Carson Center.
