Southern Illinois University
Austin Peay
Volleyball sweeps Austin Peay
09/08/2006 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 8, 2006
By Shalae Schulte
www.siusalukis.com
Photo Gallery at www.dawgtracker.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Home court advantage won over as the Southern Illinois volleyball team picked up its first sweep of the season, a 3-0 (30-20, 30-24, 30-27) victory over Austin Peay, on the opening night of the 27th Saluki Invitational Friday in a packed Davies Gym.
A balanced Saluki attack, paired with a monster block effort won over as SIU (3-4) dominated Austin Peay (1-7) defensively with 14 total team blocks, including 22 block assists and three block solos.
"If you have a lot of different forces offensively, you need to use them, especially in The Valley," Saluki head coach Brenda Winkeler said. "You don't want to be one-dimensional with your attack. It was good for us to get a lot of different people hitting the ball. I wouldn't say we had one hot hitter tonight, someone that we could get the ball to more. Everyone had a pretty good night."
Senior middle blocker Johannah Yutzy put up a career-best eight block assists in the win, adding five kills, while freshman Chandra Roberson added three solo blocks and three block assists, as well as seven kills in her first showing in Davies. Senior right side hitter Haley Hann posted six kills and five block assists.
"We've been working really hard on blocking," Winkeler said. "We've been taping ping pong paddles to Yutzy's hands in warm ups to get her to spread her hands out when she's blocking. She had a great night of blocking. That was key in the win tonight, forcing them to play around our block, causing them to hit a lot of balls out of bounds."
The Lady Govs hit just .063 on the night with 35 attack errors to SIU's 14.
Sophomore outside hitter Kristie Berwanger led the Saluki offense with eight kills and five digs, while freshman Kelsie Laughlin added seven kills and six digs.
Kristy Elswick and Jennifer Berwanger led the team with 11 digs each, Jennifer adding three service aces. Setter Erika Bartruff posted two service aces to go along with her 26 assists on the night.
For the four Saluki freshmen, it was their first taste of home sweet home, but for the five seniors, it was their final season-opener.
"The seniors and I had a meeting the other day and one thing we talked about is what they wanted out of this season," Winkeler said. "They to be as successful as they possibly can on and off the court and they've been doing a good job at that, whether they're coming in for crucial points or playing all the time. They're a group that's been through some coaching changes and a lot of adversity and they want to end it on a good note."
The Austin Peay victory is the first season-opening win in Davies Gym for the senior class, and first since 2002.
"I think the older kids are trying to prepare the freshmen for what it's like to play in Davies,"Winkeler said. "It's a real home court advantage and they've never played here before. The noise alone was something different for the freshmen. They're really excited that this is their home and this is where they get to play the next four years. There was a lot of enthusiasm in the stands and that was a great about tonight."
The Salukis will return to action Saturday morning at 10 a.m. when they take on Belmont. At 7 p.m. they will face West Virginia in the final match of the tournament.
Friday, Sept. 8
Belmont def. West Virginia (30-19, 30-10, 30-23)
Southern Illinois def. Austin Peay (30-20, 30-24, 30-27)
Saturday, Sept. 9
10 a.m. • Southern Illinois vs. Belmont
12 p.m. • Austin Peay vs. West Virginia
5 p.m. • Austin Peay vs. Belmont
7 p.m. • Southern Illinois vs. West Virginia
