Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Creighton
Creighton puts stamp on Volleyball's season
11/20/2010 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 20, 2010
By Dana Ingraham
SIUSalukis.com
OMAHA, Neb. - Southern Illinois had sparks of momentum in the first and third sets but it was not enough to start a fire, as the Salukis ended their season with a 3-1 loss at Creighton Saturday night, 26-28, 13-25, 28-26, 15-25.
Creighton has topped Southern in the teams' last 17 meetings, dating back to 2002. With the victory, the Bluejays (18-10, 13-5) earn the third seed in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, while the SIU finishes the 2010 season seventh in the conference with an even 14-14 mark, 5-13 in the MVC.
In their final match in Saluki uniforms, Alicia Johnson and Jennifer Berwanger did not disappoint, guiding their team on both the offensive and defensive ends. Johnson finished with a team-high 14 kills and 17 digs, and it was only fitting that Berwanger ended her career with 10 kills and 10 digs, marking her 58th career double-double.
"Hats off to the seniors, they all played very hard throughout this weekend," said head coach Brenda Winkeler. "Even though we didn't pull out a win and didn't make the tournament, they showed a lot of character and we're proud of them."
The opening set went back and forth a total of 10 times, neither team really breaking away until SIU strung together four consecutive points on Bluejay errors and kills from Berwanger and Jasmine Conner to go ahead 17-12. The Dawgs maintained their lead all the way to 23-19, until Creighton fought back to tie it up at 23 and 24. Both teams had their chances at set points, but CU finally capitalized with the score locked at 26 to put the first set away on back-to-back kills.
Creighton rocked the second set, exploding for eight-straight points right out of the gate. Southern chipped away but couldn't handle the Bulldogs' overpowering .448 hitting percentage in that set. The Salukis only mustered 13 points and a .080 clip as CU cruised to a two-set lead.
The third set was very reminiscent of the first but with a different outcome. The Salukis held a significant advantage all the way until Creighton clawed its way back to tie the score at 16. Rachael Brown provided three straight service aces to help Southern regain its composure and its lead, making the score 21-17. The Bluejays refused to go down quietly though, and the score tied at 23, 24, 25 and 26 before Brown combined with Conner and Alysia Mayes for two huge Southern blocks to steal its only set of the night.
Unforced errors once again plagued SIU in the fourth and final set. Much like the second set, the Salukis only hit .071 to Creighton's .407, putting up just 15 points.
"We played hard and fought back a lot of the times, but it was the same kind of thing we've been struggling with all along," Winkeler said. "We had periods when our passing wasn't very good and it was difficult for us to play consistently."
Creighton's two offensive weapons of the night were Laurel Sanford who posted a career-high 20 kills and Alicia Runge who followed with 17. The Bluejays also out-dug the Salukis 80 to 64.
Southern Illinois finishes the season on its longest losing streak of the year, dropping the last six-straight contests. The Salukis will return three starters plus their libero next season, losing four seniors in Berwanger, Sydney Clark, Conner and Johnson.
