Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Drake
Volleyball tops Drake 3-1 for first MVC win
09/23/2011 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 23, 2011
By Bill Ford
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois Volleyball team came back from a 1-0 deficit to secure its first Missouri Valley Conference win of the season 3-1 over Drake Friday night in front of a packed Davies Gym.
The Salukis (6-5, 1-2 MVC) shook off a 25-27 loss in the first set to take the next three 25-20, 25-22 and 25-23. The win gave Southern a little redemption after squandering a 2-0 lead last week in a loss at Bradley.
"You want to fix everything right then and there, but we knew it would take time. We came in the gym during practice and worked on what we needed to work on," said SIU junior setter Rachael Brown. "I think you could see by our energy and mentality tonight that we were focused through the whole match. We definitely showed that 100 percent tonight."
Southern had to recover after letting the Bulldogs (4-11, 0-3 MVC) rally to win the first set. SIU led by as many as nine in the opening frame before Drake slowly worked its way back into contention. SIU looked to have the set wrapped up at 23-20 before the Bulldogs closed on a 7-3 run.
The Salukis bounced back with a convincing win in the second set before finishing strong in close third and fourth sets. SIU closed set three on a 4-1 run and ended the fourth on a 5-1 run to secure the win.
Brown said the raucous SIU crowd definitely became a factor late in the match when the score was tight.
"Those long rallies when it goes back and forth and you win that point, you know that other team is feeling pretty bad because the whole gym is just electric," Brown said.
In addition to showing resiliency after a tough loss in the opening set, SIU coach Brenda Winkeler said her team executed its game plan well throughout the night.
"We were able to keep Drake from running the back slide with our serving," Winkeler said. "Their middles didn't get that many balls and that was one of the keys to the match to keep Drake's offense down."
SIU held Drake to a .141 hitting percentage thanks largely to 12 blocks and 63 digs. Southern also got the job done offensively, finishing with a .275 hitting percentage with 58 kills.
Sophomore outside hitter Jessica Whitehead led SIU with 20 kills on a .343 hitting clip. Whitehead has now gone over 20 kills in two consecutive matches.
"Jess said the Memphis match was kind of a turning point for her. She didn't play all that well and wasn't happy with herself," Winkeler said. "She made a vow to the team and to herself that she was going to play hard and energized every match whether she made errors or whatever happened. You could see that tonight."
Junior outside Laura Thole added 15 kills for the Salukis while Brown posted a double-double with 48 assists and 14 digs. Junior defensive specialist Bailey Yeager led the back line with 21 digs.
"We moved Bailey Yeager to the left back and she responded with 21 digs, which is a nice number in four sets," Winkeler said.
The Salukis have a short turnaround before hosting Creighton (7-7, 2-0 MVC) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Davies. The Bluejays topped Evansville Friday night in three sets.
