Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh Classic)
Volleyball Falls To Pittsburgh 3-1 At Pittsburgh Classic
09/24/2004 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 24, 2004
By Lou Antoine
SIUSalukis.com
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Southern Illinois (4-7, 2-1 MVC) jumped out to a 1-0 lead over host Pittsburgh with a 30-24 win in game one, but lost the following two games 33-31 and 30-28, before the Panthers (8-3) won game four 30-21 and beat the Salukis 3-1 on Friday at the Pittsburgh Classic.
"I felt this was a match we could win. Unfortunately, we made too many errors down the stretch in games two and three and ran out of gas in game four," said Sonya Locke, SIU head coach. "It was a hard-fought match and we should win matches like this. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, we'll get after it and hopefully we can win two matches."
Haley Hann's 15 kills led the Salukis. Hann hit .357 (15 kills, 5 errors, 28 attempts) with four digs and three blocks. Carrie Shephard's .409 hitting percentage (13 kills, 4 errors, 22 attempts) was a team-high and her 13 kills marked her third straight match with double figure kills. Shephard chipped in seven digs and two blocks.
Jene' Pulliam was the final Saluki with double figure kills (10). Holly Marita had 53 assists and Erica Miller led the defense with 21 digs. SIU's leading hitter, Marissa Washington, had eight kills, nine digs and five blocks while hitting .200 (8 kills, 4 errors, 20 attempts) for the match.
SIU started strong, but after .324 and .293 attack percentages in the first two games, fell to .023 and .125 in the final two games, hitting .184 overall to Pittsburgh's .204 for the match.
The Panthers were led by Megan Miller 21 kills, four blocks and .459 hitting percentage (21 kills, 4 errors, 37 attempts).
Southern Illinois will play Dayton at 9:30 a.m. and Long Island at 4 p.m. on Saturday respectively before heading back to Carbondale.
