Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Evansville
Volleyball falls 3-0 at Evansville
10/28/2011 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 28, 2011
By Bill Ford
SIUSalukis.com
EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- The Southern Illinois volleyball team couldn't match Evansville's intensity in a 3-0 loss to the Purple Aces Friday night at the Carson Center.
The Salukis had 16 more attack attempts (107-91), but finished with 13 fewer kills (43-30) as Evansville completed the 25-16, 25-15, 25-15 sweep.
Southern's .047 hitting percentage was its second lowest of the season thanks to a stingy Evansville defense that finished with 45 digs and eight blocks.
SIU (9-12, 3-9 Missouri Valley Conference) never led by more than two points in any set as the Aces (13-14, 3-9 MVC) consistently put together long rallies to keep the Salukis at bay. Southern passed the ball well, but couldn't consistently finish on kills against the Evansville defense.
Sophomore outside hitter Jessica Whitehead paced the Saluki offense with 11 kills while junior Laura Thole added eight kills and junior Alysia Mayes chipped in six. Junior setter Rachael Brown had 27 assists for the Salukis while junior libero Bailey Yeager led the team with nine digs.
The loss marked Southern's sixth in a row. The Salukis will get a chance to end the skid at home Friday and Saturday, Nov. 4 and 5, against Illinois State and Indiana State at Davies Gym.
