Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Missouri State
Volleyball drops 3-0 decision to Missouri State at home
11/12/2010 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 12, 2010
By Dana Ingraham
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - It was another tough defensive night for Southern Illinois, as Missouri State took the wind out of the Salukis' sails Friday with a 3-0 sweep, 25-17, 26-25, 25-22.
Alicia Johnson had a solid offensive night for SIU (14-11, 5-10 MVC), leading both teams with 14 kills, but in the end Southern didn't quite have enough to get over the hump and contest Missouri State (19-7, 10-5 MVC). As a team, SIU posted 21 total hitting errors to MSU's 16.
"We were a little off system tonight because we didn't have a great night digging," said head coach Brenda Winkeler. "We had a nice energy and nice crowd tonight - we battled but made some mistakes and took ourselves out of it. We dug some key balls but we weren't able to put them in a spot where we could run a lot of attackers and our offense got a little one-dimensional."
Southern started slow out of the gate, falling behind 13-6 in the first set after four consecutive MSU kills. The Salukis narrowed it to four at 18-14 after back-to-back kills from Jennifer Berwanger and Alysia Mayes, but were unable to get any closer in the opening period as Saluki errors combined with accurate hitting from the Bears' offense to give MSU the decisive victory. Missouri State out-hit Southern .368 to .163 in that first set.
The Dawgs came out much stronger in the second, grabbing an early 5-2 lead on a pair of Jessica Whitehead kills and two MSU hitting errors. The Bears went ahead 11-9 and 14-11 but Southern continued to weather the storm, only down one at 16-15 after a huge solo block from Mayes.
The two teams were locked at 16 courtesy of a Berwanger ace, and SIU pushed ahead 20-18 on a kill from Jasmine Conner. The score tied again at 20 and 22 before SIU's momentum slowly dwindled away, as the Salukis lost a set point on an unforced error and Missouri State came from behind to score the last four points.
"As it has been for us many times before this year, the second game was the key to the whole match," Winkeler said. "We were up, we had momentum, and then we just made some errors that cost us. It was a tough way to lose the second set."
Southern stayed focused in the third, a set that saw 10 ties and four lead changes. SIU offered an early 9-9 tie, scoring on five out of six plays and forcing the Bears into some errors of their own from the blocking efforts of Mayes, Whitehead, Johnson and Conner. The Salukis broke free at the 16-13 mark, scoring four consecutive points capped with an MSU rotation error that forced the Bears into a timeout.
Missouri State answered right back though, scoring on six of the next seven plays to go up 19-17. Another solo block from Mayes tied it at 19, but the Bears stayed ahead of the game. A Whitehead kill postponed match point for one play but Missouri State issued one last kill to complete the sweep.
"They're big and we talked about that, but our .059 hitting percentage in the third set really hurt us at the end," Winkeler said of the final set.
Lauren Blumhorst finished with a team-high nine digs while Johnson tallied eight. Rachael Brown put up 32 assists, matching MSU's setter Carly Thomas on the other side of the net.
SIU's final home match of the 2010 season against Wichita State is scheduled for 7 p.m. tomorrow night. Prior to the match, the four Saluki seniors will be recognized on Senior Night, as Berwanger, Sydney Clark, Conner and Johnson play the last match of their collegiate careers at Davies Gym.
