Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Evansville
Volleyball bested by Evansville
09/25/2010 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 25, 2010
By Dana Ingraham
SIUSalukis.com
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Southern Illinois fell victim to a red-hot Evansville team Saturday night, dropping a 3-0 decision for the third time in as many matches, 25-23, 25-18, 25-18.
"It was the same story tonight as it was last weekend," said head coach Brenda Winkeler. "We were right there with them in the first set and then some unforced errors led to some problems for us. We just couldn't recover."
Three Salukis posted double-digit kills - Jennifer Berwanger leading the way with a match-high 14, followed by big nights from the middles with Jasmine Conner and Alysia Mayes each chipping in 10. Still, UE controlled SIU at the net, recording 11 total blocks, in addition to out-hitting Southern, .297 to .182.
SIU (9-4, 0-3 MVC) led the first set at 9-7 and 12-10 before UE (13-2, 2-1 MVC) put up six points in seven plays to go up 17-14. A kill from Conner cut the deficit to 19-16, but SIU would not get any closer than three as Saluki hitting errors combined with strong Evansville blocking to tilt the opening period in UE's favor.
The Salukis never held a lead in the second set, but it looked like they were going to make a run at the Purple Aces when three-straight kills from Mayes saw the Dawgs down by five at 19-14. UE's accurate hitting would prove to be too much though, keyed by Hannah Wilson's .423 hitting percentage.
It was again in the third set when the unforced errors came back to haunt Southern, proving to be the story of the match. Overall, the Salukis posted 24 hitting miscues to Evansville's nine.
"Even though we out-dug them, we struggled because of our poor passing," said Winkeler. "We had trouble getting our offense going through the outsides. Give Evansville credit, they blocked well and only had one service error. They had a great night."
Berwanger's 14 kills paired with 16 digs counted for her 47th career double-double. Bailey Yeager also posted 18 of SIU's 61 total digs.
SIU's offense was fed through Rachael Brown who totaled 43 assists.
The Salukis will look to pick up their first win in Missouri Valley Conference play next weekend, traveling to Bradley on Friday, Oct. 1 for a 7 p.m. matchup followed by a shot at No. 16 Northern Iowa on Saturday, Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m.
