Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
West Virginia
Volleyball makes clean sweep of Mountaineers, finishes second in 27th Saluki Invitational
09/09/2006 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 9, 2006
By Shalae Schulte
www.siusalukis.com
Austin Peay Box Score
Belmont Box Score
West Virginia Box Score
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois' senior middle blocker Johannah Yutzy and sophomore libero Kristy Elswick were named to the 27th Saluki Invitational All-Tournament Team Saturday night after the final game of the four-team tournament.
The Salukis (4-5) went 2-1 on the weekend on their home court in Davies Gym, sweeping Austin Peay Friday night and West Virginia Saturday night. SIU's only loss of the weekend came Saturday morning with a three-game sweep from tournament champion Belmont.
The Bruins, now 7-2 on the season, hit .342 to the Salukis' .087, committing only 12 attack errors.
"I knew their offense was going to be very quick for us," Saluki head coach Brenda Winkeler said. "It's very different from what we see in the Valley, which is more height and power. In the second game we tried to use a smaller, quicker lineup, and that was working, but Jen (Berwanger) got hurt. She was a good match up for them with her quickness."
Saluki freshman Jennifer Berwanger went down in the second game with a knee injury, but walked off the court. As a precaution she did not play the rest of the day.
All weekend the Saluki attack was balanced with the offensive wealth spread between four main hitters.
"The more people we have producing on offense the better we will be when we start Missouri Valley Conference play," Winkeler said. "We can move the opponents block around."
Yutzy led the team with nine kills against the Bruins, adding one solo and two block assists, while fellow senior Haley Hann added eight kills on the right side along with three block assists.
Sophomore outside hitter Kristie Berwanger recorded six kills and six digs, while freshman Chandra Roberson finished with four kills, one solo and two block assists. Elswick also added a match-high 19 digs.
In the nightcap, the Salukis turned all of the negatives from the morning sweep into positives handing a sweep to West Virginia, 30-11, 30-18, 30-28. SIU set an all-time best for fewest points allowed in a three-game match with 57, breaking the record set in 2002 against Drake of 58.
"Hitting percentage-wise we hit a lot better than we did this morning," Winkeler commented. "We did a great job blocking. That's one of the things that we talked about improving from the morning game against Belmont."
The Salukis hit .200 in the match, holding the Mountaineers to -.066.
The team also recorded a season-low 17 attack errors at the net, putting up two solo and 14 block assists.
Kristie Berwanger led the attack with nine kills and 12 digs, while Yutzy added eight kills and four block assists.
Roberson and Laughlin posted seven kills each, Roberson adding three block assists.
Elswick once again recorded a match-high in digs with 18, while Kari Buehlhorn pitched in 12.
The Salukis wrap up tournament play this season at 4-5, finishing 1-2 at both the Dayton Flyer Classic and Wyoming Cowgirl Classic before coming home for the Saluki Invitational.
"These tournaments give us a lot of playing time and gives us things to work on before the conference schedule begins," Winkeler said. "It's actually easier to prepare for conference play, taking on one opponent at a time. We can watch game tape and get ready, instead of playing several teams each weekend."
Yutzy earned her third all-tournament team award in as many weekends, hitting .228, averaging 2.44 kills and 1.67 blocks per game. Friday night against Austin Peay, she posted a personal-best eight block assists.
"I worked hard over the summer and tried to improve from last year," Yutzy said. "Now that hard work is paying off and I feel I'm still improving."
Elswick garnered the first all-tournament honor of her career, in just her second season as a Saluki. The sophomore finished the weekend averaging 5.33 digs, 0.44 assists, 0.44 service aces per game. She also recorded a serve receive percentage of .939 with just four errors in 66 attempts.
"She deserves it," Yutzy said of her teammate. "She's a very hard worker and plays tremendous defense. It was well-deserved."
The Salukis return to action Tuesday, Sept. 12 when they face the Redhawks of Southeast Missouri State at 7 p.m. CT at Davies Gym.
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
Belmont def. Southern Illinois (30-15, 30-23, 30-22)
Austin Peay def. West Virginia (30-25, 30-14, 25-30, 30-22)
Belmont def. Austin Peay (30-13, 30-24, 30-26)
Southern Illinois def. West Virginia (30-11, 30-18, 30-28)
Saluki Invitational All-Tournament Team
Ashley Genslak - SR - OH - Austin Peay
Johannah Yutzy - SR - MB - Southern Illinois
Kristy Elswick - SO - L - Southern Illinois
Jaye Schuler - JR - MB - Belmont
Ashley Collier - SO - L - Belmont
Abby Tevis - JR - OH - West Virginia
Tournament MVP
Emily Cahill - SO - MB - Belmont
