Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Creighton
Creighton rallies for five-set win over Volleyball
10/21/2011 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 21, 2011
By Bill Ford
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois volleyball team let a 2-1 lead over Creighton slip away Friday night in a five-set loss to the Bluejays in Omaha, Neb.
The Salukis (9-10, 3-7 Missouri Valley Conference) looked to have momentum in the match after a convincing third-set win, but couldn't hold off setter Megan Bober and the Bluejays (12-10, 7-3 MVC).
Bober finished with a triple-double (19 kills, 28 assists, 11 digs) as Creighton rallied for a 25-22, 22-25, 18-25, 25-13, 15-12 win over the Salukis.
Southern jumped out to a 7-2 advantage early in the first set and held an edge over the Bluejays for the majority of the set. Creighton slowly worked its way back into contention, however, taking over the lead at 17-16.
The two teams would trade the lead for a few side-outs until the Bluejays closed the set with three straight points to go up 1-0. The first set saw the two teams combine for 10 total blocks as both squads hit for sub .100 clips.
The offense picked up for both teams in a back-and-forth second set that saw 18 ties. Neither team led by more than a point until Southern finally scored consecutive points for a 21-19 lead. The Salukis ultimately closed the set on a 6-3 run to knot the match at a set apiece.
Southern upped its hitting percentage to .344 in the second set, led by junior outside hitter Laura Thole, who recorded seven of her team-high 18 kills in the set.
SIU carried momentum into the third set, playing some of their best ball of the season. The Salukis used an 8-1 run early in the set to force a Creighton timeout at 11-4. Southern continued the onslaught after the break, pushing the lead to as much as eight points at 16-7.
The Bluejays rallied with a 5-0 run to force an SIU timeout at 16-12, but the Salukis responded with a 3-1 run to take back control. Southern's lead held up as the Salukis pulled out a seven-point win to go up 2-1.
Sarah James came up big for Southern in the third set, posting five of her career-best 10 kills on just six swings.
Southern ran out of steam in the fourth set as Creighton jumped out to an early lead, and never looked back on their way to a 12-point win. The Bluejays hit .478 in the set while Southern's nine errors resulted in a negative hitting percentage.
The Salukis led early in the fifth, but Creighton used a 4-0 run on a kill and three SIU errors to slingshot into the lead. The Bluejays didn't trail again, pushing their winning streak over the Salukis to 19 matches.
In addition to Thole and James, two other Salukis recorded double-digit kill totals as Alysia Mayes finished with 12 kills and Jessica Whitehead added 11 kills. Rachael Brown finished the match with 47 assists while Bailey Yeager posted 25 digs.
Southern looks to put a four-match losing streak to bed tomorrow night at Drake.
