Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
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Mississippi State
Volleyball rolls in 3-0 win over Mississippi State
09/10/2010 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 10, 2010
By Dana Ingraham
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois volleyball team extended its winning streak to five matches Friday night in the first round of the Saluki Invitational presented by the Hampton Inn, handing Mississippi State its first loss of the season in the form of yet another 3-0 shutout, 25-22, 25-18, 25-21.
SIU (6-1) knocked off its second Southeastern Conference opponent of the season while recording its sixth sweep this year.
Jennifer Berwanger led both teams with 14 kills and a match-high .333 hitting percentage. Alicia Johnson and Alysia Mayes supplied eight and six kills to balance the Saluki offense.
"Jen is always in there performing, whether it's hitting, serving or blocking," said head coach Brenda Winkeler. "Tonight she had some key kills. Her ability to hit a lot of different shots is what makes her shine, and because of that she is able to do a lot of things to the opponent's defense."
The momentum of Davies Gym and the hometown crowd was on Southern's side, as the Salukis exploded to a 14-5 lead in the first set. Mississippi State (7-1) quickly returned the favor, making its way back with seven-straight kills to within one at 17-16. A pair of those key kills from Berwanger and Rachael Brown lifted SIU to 22-17, but the Bulldogs would not go quietly, closing in again at 23-22 before a Johnson kill settled the score and the set.
After breaking a 5-5 tie in set two, the Salukis scored seven of the next eight points to go ahead 12-6. MSU's offensive leader Ashley Newsome brought the Bulldogs back to 13-12, but the Dawgs hung on as the trio of Berwanger, Johnson and Mayes propelled SIU to a 2-0 lead. Southern has swept the first two sets in every match so far this season.
In a set that was tied a total of 13 times, Berwanger took control for SIU the third time around, delivering six kills. Five consecutive Saluki points brought the score to 22-17 before an ace from Mayes brought down the house, sealing Southern's first home victory.
"Overall we had a very good performance tonight," Winkeler said. "It was a fun win and a great win, but there are a lot of teams in the Valley that are competing well against a lot of the big conferences. We will have to make some adjustments for tomorrow, but this was a great building block towards conference play."
SIU will face off against Ohio Valley Conference rival SEMO Saturday at noon, followed by a night match against Big East opponent USF at 7 p.m.
