Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Indiana State
Volleyball falls in heartbreaker at Indiana State
11/06/2010 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 6, 2010
By Dana Ingraham
SIUSalukis.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Southern Illinois fielded three players with double-digit kills and out-hit Indiana State .290 to .213 but it was still not enough, as SIU dropped a five-set contest to a scrappy INS squad, 25-14, 17-25, 21-25, 25-18, 13-15.
SIU (14-10, 5-9 MVC) has struggled mightily on the road this year in conference play, only posting a 1-6 mark in Valley matches away from home.
"We had a hard time again playing consistently tonight," said head coach Brenda Winkeler. "When we were playing well, we were playing really well, but we had stretches where we just weren't passing the ball."
Indiana State (11-17, 3-12 MVC) was able to carry its momentum over from Friday night when it swept Evansville, stealing a narrow victory from Southern's fingertips in a match that was eerily similar to the teams' first meeting earlier this season. The Sycamores only garnered one Missouri Valley Conference win prior to this weekend.
SIU dominated the first set, scoring four-straight points to go up 14-5 on a service ace from Lauren Blumhorst. Jennifer Berwanger delivered five of her match-high 20 kills in that opening period to ensure the easy win for the Salukis.
The second set was a completely different story, with Indiana State firing out of the gate with a 9-1 advantage. The Salukis mustered a small comeback, courtesy of three Jessica Whitehead kills, and forced a Sycamore timeout. With the set at 19-15 in its favor, Indiana State rolled for five consecutive scores to hold the 24-16 lead. SIU fought off two match points before the Sycamores wrapped up set two.
"The second set was probably the turning point in the match," Winkeler said. "Before that, I thought we came out and established a good lead, but we just didn't play well after that and couldn't maintain it."
The third set was a battle from the beginning, totaling 13 tie scores and five lead changes. Southern went up 17-14 on a kill from Berwanger before Indiana State charged ahead with five-straight points to regain the lead at 19-17. Another Berwanger kill saw the two teams locked at 20, but Saluki hitting and receiving errors cost SIU the set and INS went up 2-1.
Southern exploded for a .314 clip in the fourth set, as big play from middle blockers Alysia Mayes and Jasmine Conner and a spark off the bench from Laura Thole brought new life to the Saluki offensive attack. SIU held an 18-13 lead after three INS errors, and Whitehead and Conner each threw down a kill to put Southern up 23-16 after two more Sycamore miscues. Berwanger and Mayes scored on two of the last three plays to extend the match to a fifth set.
The two teams traded points in the final stanza, tying the score at 10, 11 and 12. An Indiana State kill and a Southern Illinois error brought the Sycamores to match point at 14-12, but Whitehead answered with a kill. Southern could not hold off INS any longer though, as one last kill gave the victory to the Sycamores.
SIU recorded seven total blocks, but suffered nine receiving errors and lost the battle of the digs, 75-62.
"We definitely struggled passing the ball and our receiving errors hurt us, but the thing was that Indiana State really never let the ball go down on their side," said Winkeler. "They just out-played us defensively."
Whitehead finished with 16 kills and a team-high .412 hitting percentage, and Mayes was not far behind with 10 kills, hitting .333. Blumhorst led the Saluki defense with 22 digs, and Berwanger chipped in 12. Rachael Brown put up 49 assists for SIU.
Southern will return to Davies Gym for its final homestand of the season next weekend, hosting Missouri State Friday, Nov. 12 and Wichita State Saturday, Nov. 13. First serve is set for 7 p.m. both nights.
