Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Volleyball travels to Evansville Friday
10/26/2011 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 26, 2011
By Bill Ford
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois volleyball team looks to end a five-match losing streak Friday night as the Salukis travel to Evansville.
Friday, October 28
SIU at Evansville, 7 p.m.
Location: Evansville, Ind.
Site: Carson Center
Live Stats
TEAM FACTS
Southern Illinois Salukis (9-11, 3-8 MVC)
Head Coach: Brenda Winkeler, Seventh Year (176-172 overall, 94-100 at SIU)
Evansville Purple Aces (12-14, 2-9 MVC)
Head Coach: Mike Swan, 10th Year (500-387 overall, 113-57 at Evansville)
SIU VS. EVANSVILLE
The Salukis lead the all-time series with the Purple Aces 33-10, including a five-set win Sept. 30 at Davies Gym. The two teams have split the season series the last six seasons, and Southern has not won at Evansville since 2006. After starting the season 11-3, the Purple Aces have gone 1-11 over their last 12 matches. Evansville is led offensively by Brooke Maher who averages 3.05 kills per set. Behind Maher, four other Aces average more than two kills per set, including Lauren Seyller (2.41/set), Kaisi Nixon (2.24/set), Rachel TenHoor (2.21/set) and Ashley Ring (2.09/set). Setter Ellen Sawin conducts the Evansville offense, averaging 9.00 assists per set while Jenn Murphy averages 4.73 assists per set. The Aces defense is led by libero Kaite Klages, who averages 4.49 digs per set. Five other Evansville players average more than two digs per set while TenHoor and Nixon lead the team in blocking.
LEADING THE SALUKIS
The Saluki offense is led by a trio of attackers that all average more than two kills per set. Sophomore outside hitter Jessica Whitehead ranks third in the MVC with a season average of 3.48 kills per set while junior outside Laura Thole is fourth in the league at 3.22 kills per set. Junior middle blocker Alysia Mayes rounds out Southern's top attackers with an average of 2.73 kills per set with a .379 hitting percentage that leads the MVC and ranks 22nd nationally. Junior setter Rachael Brown ranks third in the Valley with an average of 10.02 assists per set. The Salukis have three players averaging three or more digs per set, led by junior libero Bailey Yeager's 3.89 per set, which ranks eighth in the MVC. Thole is second on the team with an average of 3.01 digs per set and Brown is third at 2.93.
RECAPPING LAST WEEK
The Salukis dropped a pair of five set matches, albeit in different fashions. Southern jumped out to a 2-1 set lead at Creighton before ultimately falling in five sets Friday before rallying from a 2-0 deficit to force five sets Saturday at Drake. Laura Thole led four Salukis in double-figure kills with 18 while Alysia Mayes had 12, Jessica Whitehead had 11 and Sarah James had 10. Rachael Brown had 47 assists for the Salukis while Bailey Yeager led the team with 25 digs. Against the Bulldogs, Thole posted a career-best 20 kills while Mayes chipped in 15 kills on a career-best .700 hitting percentage. James recorded 10 kills, a career-best, for the second consecutive night. Brown had 47 more assists to go with 15 digs while Thole also had a double-double with 14 digs. Yeager led the team with 24 digs.
MAYES STAYS CONSISTENT
Alysia Mayes recorded a career-best hitting percentage of .700 with 15 kills and only one error on 20 attempts Saturday at Drake. The outing helped her take the lead in the MVC and puts her 22nd nationally in hitting percentage for the season at .379. The SIU single-season record for hitting percentage is .369 by Sonya Locke in 1981.
