Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Bradley
Volleyball rebounds with 3-1 victory over Bradley
10/30/2010 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 30, 2010
By Dana Ingraham
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois volleyball team won a grudge match against Bradley Saturday afternoon, defeating the Braves 25-19, 21-25, 25-23, 25-12.
"I don't think we played our best volleyball today, but we were able to pick up a key win," said head coach Brenda Winkeler. "Bradley had a lot of momentum coming in after they got their first conference win last night against Evansville, so it was good win to keep us in the hunt for fifth or sixth place in the Valley."
Alicia Johnson, Jennifer Berwanger and Rachael Brown all recorded double-doubles in the four-set victory for SIU (14-8, 5-7 MVC).
Bradley (6-20, 1-12 MVC) held the advantage early in the first set, leading SIU 7-2. Bailey Yeager served six-straight points with help from Johnson and Berwanger kills and a big solo block by Alysia Mayes. The Salukis played off of BU errors to ride an 18-14 lead to win the first.
The Braves would not go quietly however, and made a statement in the second set. The two teams traded points almost the entire way, tying the score a total of 15 times until it was locked at 20. Bradley went on a spree, and two SIU timeouts couldn't stop their run as the Braves slid into the break with a victory in set two.
"We didn't hit very well in the beginning and they were serving us short so it took us a long time to adjust to that," Winkeler said. "We should have adjusted a lot easier with our passing, but once we started picking it up we did better."
Southern still had trouble distancing itself from Bradley in the third, down 18-13. The Salukis were able to muster a comeback, keyed by the strong play of middle blockers Mayes and Jasmine Conner. Conner put down three kills to bring the Dawgs to within one at 20-19, before her final kill of the set sealed a narrow 25-23 win.
SIU ran away with the fourth set, scoring 10 straight points to go up 22-10. Berwanger, Johnson and Mayes found the holes in the BU defense, allowing the Salukis to regain control of the match.
"We were able to get the ball to our middles today and they had some kills, that's one of the things we wanted to accomplish," said Winkeler. "They (Conner and Mayes) did a good job of spacing so we could get them some balls and diversify our offense."
Mayes finished with 12 kills and Conner ended with nine, hitting .444.
Although the team's nine service errors disrupted their flow, the Salukis' defensive effort improved from the night before, with five players tallying double-digit digs, led by Lauren Blumhorst with a match-high 20. Brown guided the offense with 44 assists to go along with her 10 digs.
SIU is back on the road next weekend, continuing its quest to qualify for the MVC Tournament. The Salukis take on Illinois State Friday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m., and Indiana State Saturday, Nov. 6 at 6 p.m. Southern defeated both teams three weeks ago in Davies Gym.
