Volleyball to host Drake and Creighton

Oct. 12, 2005

This Week
The Salukis will stay in Carbondale to take on Missouri Valley Conference opponents Drake and Creighton this weekend. Friday night SIU will face the Bulldogs at 7 p.m. before playing the Bluejays Saturday at 3 p.m.

Last Week
The Salukis finished 0-2 during a two-match road trip to Missouri and Kansas over the weekend. SIU dropped three straight games to both Missouri State and Wichita State. Friday SIU lost, 30-21, 30-25, 30-28 to the Bears. Johannah Yutzy led all hitters with 15 kills, hitting .500 on the night (15-3-24). Haley Hann added 10 kills, seven assists for the Salukis and Holly Marita tallied 38 assists.

Saturday Southern dropped three straight to Wichita State, 30-26, 30-17, 30-17. Marissa Washington hit .455 for the Dawgs with 11 kills (11-1-22), while Hann added nine kills and 12 digs.

The Bulldogs
Western Illinois 3, Drake 1: The Bulldogs suffered a 30-20, 24-30, 30-23, 30-19 non-conference road setback last Wednesday. Junior outside hitter Eve Johnson recorded a season-high 25 kills for the Bulldogs. Junior Betsy Funk collected 40 assists and a career-high 15 digs. Junior Megan Veltman added 12 kills and six digs for Drake.

Creighton 3, Drake 1: Creighton rallied to post a 26-30, 30-14, 30-13, 30-26 MVC victory at Drake Saturday. Junior Megan Veltman led Drake with 13 kills, while senior Lindsey Johnson had seven kills and 14 digs. Junior Betsy Funk collected 33 assists for Drake.

The Bulldogs raced to a 14-1 lead in game one en route to a 30-26 victory. Funk had 11 assists in the game, while Johnson and Veltman had four kills. Drake totaled 43 kills in the match but had just a .113 attack percentage.

The Bluejays
Creighton (8-9, 2-5) is currently tied with SIU for sixth-place in the MVC. The Bluejays have taken four straight from the Salukis, leading the all-time series, 13-9.

Creighton beat Drake Saturday, 3-1 for its second win of the conference season. Creighton's Lisa Ratzlaff is currently ranked second in the Valley in kills per game and points per game averaging 4.58 and 5.04 respectively.

The Bluejays will face Nebraska Tuesday and Evansville Friday before taking on the Salukis Saturday.

Salukis On The Radio
For the first time at Southern Illinois, volleyball games will be broadcast live from Davies Gym. All 11 of SIU's home games will be streamed on WIDB, SIU's only student-run radio station. Games can be heard on WIDB.net, www.siusalukis.com and via university cable channel 5 in the SIU dorms. Volleyball coverage on WIDB.net will include pre and post-game interviews with Saluki head coach Brenda Winkeler and a weekly spot on WIDB The Revolution's Wednesday evening and Saturday morning sports shows. QuickTime Player is required to listen for all webcasts.

On The World Wide Web
Media, student-athletes and fans can access the most up-to-date information pertaining to Saluki Volleyball by visiting www.siusalukis.com. Features of the site include player and coach profiles, statistics, schedules, rosters, live stats and press releases.

Salukis Look Ahead
The Salukis return five starters from last year's young team that went 9-21 overall and 6-12 in league play. SIU lost just two seniors, including libero Erica Miller and middle blocker Carrie Shephard. The Salukis return 85 percent of their offense in 2005, including team-leaders in kills (Haley Hann, 318), kills per game (Jene' Pulliam, 2.83), hitting percentage (Marissa Washington, .304), assists (Holly Marita, 1,231) and service aces (Holly Marita, 26).

Picked Eighth in Preseason Valley Coaches Poll
The Southern Illinois volleyball team was picked eighth in the 2005 Missouri Valley Conference preseason coaches poll. The Salukis had 28 points, six behind Evansville (36), who tied with SIU for seventh-place in the Valley in 2004. Defending regular season and tournament champion Wichita State was picked to repeat with 94 points and seven first-place votes

Winkeler Takes Over At SIU
After five years as the head volleyball coach at Eastern Illinois, Brenda Winkeler took over as head coach for the Salukis in July. Winkeler became the sixth head coach in the 43-year history of Saluki volleyball. At Eastern, Winkeler posted an 82-72 record, including a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2001 and share of the Ohio Valley Conference title in 2004. Winkeler takes over for 14-year head coach Sonya Locke, who resigned in the spring.

Winkeler No Stranger to Winning
Before taking the reigns at Eastern, Winkeler spent 11 years at Parkland Community College, winning three conference championships, and the 1999 NJCAA National Championship, her final season. Winkeler's junior college record was 428-164-9, making her a lock for the Division I level.

Salukis All Aces
The Salukis recorded 14 service aces in a 3-0 sweep of Indiana State Oct. 1, including four from Haley Hann and three from Kristy Elswick. The tally ranks 13th all-time at SIU and first in the MVC this season in conference play.

Washington in the Books - Again
The Salukis' lone senior, Marissa Washington, led her team in hitting percentage in 2003 and 2004. Her .292 career hitting percentage is fourth all-time at SIU. Her .304 hitting percentage in 2004 ranks ninth in the Saluki record books.

Attack Percentage

1. Sonya Locke  1979-82 .3202.  Lindsey Schultz  1999-02 .3113.  Britten Follett  1999-02 .2954.  Marissa Washington    2002-pr.    .2925.  Laura Pier  1995-98 .290

This season, Washington's .349 percentage ranks sixth in the MVC.

At the Wildcat Classic Sept. 16-17, Washington recorded a .778 hitting percentage in a sweep of Brown (3-0), tallying 15 kills, 1 error in just 18 attempts. The mark is eighth all-time at SIU and ranks first in the Valley this season.

Marita Set-tles into the Books
In 2004, junior Holly Marita recorded 1,231 assists, the seventh-best single-season assist tally in school history. The junior recorded 56 assists in a two-match home stand over the weekend to push her career total to 2,735, fourth all-time at SIU.

Assists

1. Debbie Barr 1996-99 50572.  Lisa Cummins    1982-85 32493.  Kim Golebiewski 1992-95 27964.  Holly Marita    2003-pr.    27355.  Martha Firnhaber    1989-91 2433

Jo Hits With League's Best
Middle blocker Johannah Yutzy has hit over .400 in four of the last six Saluki matches, posting double-digit kills in five of the matches. The junior has averaged a .410 in the contests with 67 kills in 122 attempts and only 17 errors. Her .350 season total ranks fifth in the league.

She is hitting .367 (80 kills, 22 errors, 158 attacks) in conference play. She ranks eighth in MVC play and first on the SIU team.

The junior was named to the Wildcat Classic All-Tournament Team Sept. 16-17. She helped her team to a 1-2 record on the weekend, highlighted by a 3-0 sweep of Brown. Yutzy was second on the team with 25 kills on the weekend including the first double-double of her career, a 12 kill, 10 dig effort, against Kentucky. She hit .274 on the weekend adding 13 digs and seven blocks.

Washington Named to Saluki Invitational All-Tournament Team
Senior middle blocker, Marissa Washington was named to the 26th Saluki Invitational All-Tournament team for the second-straight year Sept. 9-10 after leading the Salukis in kills (21) and hitting (.395) percentage in two matches over the weekend. She posted 13 kills in a 3-2 loss to Missouri-Kansas City Sept. 9. She hit .522 on the night (13 kills, 1 error, 23 attacks). The following afternoon she came back post eight kills, four block assists and three digs along with a .250 hitting percentage (8 kills, 3 errors, 20 attempts). She averaged 2.62 kills, 1.00 block per game and a .395 hitting percentage over the weekend. She also added three digs and one assist on the tournament.

DeWulf Named to San Diego State Invite All-Tournament Team
Sophomore Katy DeWulf, moved from middle blocker to outside hitter this fall. The transition has been graceful for the 6-1 sophomore, who battled injury as a freshman. DeWulf is second on the team with 139 kills, averaging 2.57 kills per game. She was named to the San Diego State Invitational All-Tournament Team Sept. 2-3. She led the team in kills two of the three games. DeWulf is currently fourth on the team, hitting .146, adding 31 digs and 28 blocks in 16 matches.

Freshman Can Dig It
Libero Kristy Elswick averages 4.35 digs per game overall and 4.75 digs per game during conference play to rank fifth in the conference this season. She also leads the team in service aces with 21, averaging 0.42 per game to rank fifth. The freshman posts .939 reception percentage, with 22 errors in 361 attempts.

She has started all 16 Saluki matches this season, playing all 54 games at libero and leading the team in digs in 14 matches. In the Missouri Valley Conference opener Sept. 13 and again Sept. 25 against Bradley, Elswick posted a career-high 26 digs, also a team-high on the season. Elswick currently leads the team in ace serves with 21, averaging 0.39 per game, ranking fifth in the conference overall statistics. Her 4.35 digs per game this season, also ranks the rookie fifth in the league.

Seeing Double
Setter Holly Marita currently leads the team with 24 career double-doubles as a setter (assists, digs). Marita picked up a triple double in 2003 against Iowa (10 kills, 51 assists, 12 digs).

Junior outside hitter Ashley Saverine currently leads the team with nine career double-doubles (kills, digs), recording her last double-double in 2004 against UMKC (16 kills, 11 digs).

Marita (24)     Last vs. Illinois St. (32 A, 20 D)Saverine (9)    Last vs. UMKC (16 K, 11 D)Pulliam (8) Last at Evansville (18K, 10 D)Washington (5)  Last at Bradley (10 K, 12 D)Hann (4)    Last vs. Brown (12 K, 12 D)Laird (2)   Last vs. Georgetown (22 A 12 D)Yutzy (2)   Last at W. Illinois (14 K, 10 D)Hinsenkamp (1)   vs. Long Island (10 K, 10 D)

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