Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Young players shine at Volleyball's first scrimmage
08/20/2011 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 20, 2011
By Bill Ford
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois volleyball team held its first preseason scrimmage at Davies Gym Saturday, with the Saluki white team defeating the maroon team in straight sets 25-22, 25-12, 25-22.
Sophomore outside hitter Emily Less highlighted the day for the Saluki white team, putting down 17 kills with a hitting percentage of .297. Less, who only saw action in one match during her freshman season, bolstered her candidacy to fill one of the holes left by the departure of Jennifer Berwanger and Alicia Johnson from last year's squad.
"We moved Emily to the outside and she led us in kills today. She did a real nice job," said SIU head coach Brenda Winkeler.
Also putting on strong performances for the white team were transfers Alexis Braghini and Caitlin Schumacher. A junior middle blocker, Braghini was second on the team with 14 kills with a team-best hitting percentage of .393. She also recorded a solo block and five block assists. Schumacher, a sophomore defensive specialist, recorded a match-leading 26 digs.
Junior setter Rachael Brown posted 41 assists while sophomore outside hitter Jessica Whitehead added 11 kills to round out the leaders for the white team.
Senior Amanda Arnold led the way for the maroon team, finishing with 11 kills and eight digs, while junior defensive specialist Bailey Yeger added 14 digs and freshman setter Krista Menghini dished up 18 assists.
Winkeler said the big performances by new players is a positive sign with the team's season opener less than a week away. While she knew she could count on production from returning starters Brown, Whitehead, Yeager and junior middle blocker Alysia Mayes, she said it was refreshing to see other players step up.
"As a whole, this group plays with a little better team cohesiveness than last season," Winkeler said. "We don't need Jen Berwanger to hit 90 balls. We got a lot of other people we can spread that out to."
Overall, Winkeler said the scrimmage was another positive step in what has been a strong preseason.
"It's my 28th year as a coach and this has been one of the best preseasons I can remember from a standpoint of kids buying in and working hard," Winkeler said. "We were able to go really hard with the kids being here in the summer We couldn't have done what we did the past two weeks if they weren't here over the summer, getting that conditioning. We feel really good going into the year."
The Salukis will have one more scrimmage Wednesday, August 24, at SIU Arena before opening the season Friday and Saturday, August 26-27, at the Mississippi State Maroon Invitational in Starkville, Miss.
