Southern Illinois University
Eastern Kentucky
Volleyball sweeps tournament field, opens season 3-0
08/25/2007 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 25, 2007
By Shalae Schulte
www.siusalukis.com
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Southern Illinois volleyball team picked up two victories Saturday afternoon at the MSU Comfort Inn and Suites Invitational hosted by Morehead State to open the 2007 season 3-0. The Salukis beat the tournament host Eagles in four games (30-27, 25-30, 30-25, 30-28) before sweeping Eastern Kentucky (30-26, 20-21, 30-20) to record the best season start since 2002.
"I'm very pleased with our play this weekend," Saluki head coach Brenda Winkeler said. "We had too many unforced errors and still won ball games. Marina Medic had a fantastic tournament. Her improvement from last season has been tremendous."
Medic, a sophomore middle hitter, hit .510 in the tournament to lead the Salukis, recording 28 kills and just two errors in 51 attempts to go with two solo and 16 block assists for a 1.64 average.
The Saluki offense hit .291 in the tournament, leading their opponents in nearly every statistical category.
"Brooklyn Robbins was a big reason we our offense performed well," Winkeler added. "She was able to get a lot of tight balls at the net and defensively she did a great job. We had a lot of weapons at different times. Kristie Berwanger played well on the right side after spending last season on the outside."
Saluki setter Robbins led the Saluki offense with 11.00 assists and 3.18 digs per game, recording two double-doubles on the weekend, while Kristie Berwanger averaged 4.09 kills per game, while Kelsie Laughlin chipped in 4.00 kills and 2.00 digs per game.
Saluki libero Kristy Elswick came 53 digs closer to holding the career record at SIU for digs, averging 4.82 per game on the weekend.
"Our conditioning has been great in the preseason so I knew we could hang with any team." Winkeler added. "There were times when we were down in a match and came back--this team refused to get outworked."
The MSU Comfort Inn and Suites Invitational All-Tournament team will not be announced until the conclusion of all the tournament games.
The Salukis will travel to Williamsburg, Va., Aug. 31 to Sep. 1 for the Tribe Classic hosted by William & Mary. The team will face Kent State on Friday and East Carolina and William & Mary Saturday.
