Salukis sweep Purple Aces

Saturday, October 15

Carbondale, Ill.

7:00 PM

Southern Illinois University

16-7, 7-2MVC

Evansville

4-18, 0-9MVC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Evansville	14	23	18	0
Southern Illinois	25	25	25	3

Photo by: Madison Case

10/15/2016 | 10:53:00 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

SIU improves to 16-7, 7-2 MVC with win over Evansville.

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois volleyball team picked up a 25-14, 25-23, 25-18 sweep of Missouri Valley Conference foe Evansville at Davies Gym Saturday night.

The Salukis (16-7, 7-2 MVC) got six kills, two digs and three blocks from Alex Rosignol on .455 hitting. Abby Barrow tallied a team-best eight kills and added a season-high seven digs, and Meg Viggars and Ginger Perinar each posted six kills. Viggars also had 17 assists, two service aces and seven digs.

While the Salukis outhit the Purple Aces, .260-to-.125 and only gave up the lead on three occasions Saturday night, Southern occasionally lost its focus against the Purple Aces (4-18, 0-9 MVC).

"When you're facing an opponent that has yet to win a conference match, it's difficult to maintain our efficiencies and our focus," Ingram said. "We're frustrated with our performance in that regard. Wish we could have been better within reception, specifically the second set. That kind of stuff will show itself against teams that will take advantage of it."

The Salukis took a quick, 3-0 lead in the first frame behind a pair of kills by Barrow. Hannah Kaminsky's 115^th career service ace put Southern ahead, 8-4 and a kill by Viggars jumpstarted a three-point spurt that grew SIU's lead to 15-8. Another of Barrow's five kills in the opening set put the Salukis ahead by eight, 22-14. SIU scored the sets final three points to cruise to a 25-14 win.

"(The entire match) should've looked more like the first set," Ingram said. "14 kills is about average for us. Siding out at 80% is an expectation of where we should've been all match. We're not there yet. We need to put some time into being better against opponents that we think the match should go quick. Any team in this league has the ability to score points. Any team in this league has the ability to beat us."

SIU hit .423 in the first set, putting down 14 kills on 26 swings with three errors. It marks the 16^th time this season the Salukis have hit above .400 for a single set. Southern also sided out on 80% (12-of-15) of Evansville's serves in the first frame.

The Salukis again took a 3-0 lead in set two behind the serve of Andrea Estrada, but it was the Purple Aces who grabbed the lead on a Saluki attack error at 6-5. It didn't last long, as SIU again scored in bunches, pushing their lead to 11-8 with Rosignol at the service line. The lead grew to seven, 22-15 on a Purple Ace attack error, but Evansville countered with a 5-0 run to get to within two, 22-20. After a Saluki timeout, SIU sided out, and got to set point on a kill by Perinar, 24-20. The Purple Aces had one last gasp, getting to within one (24-23) after a three-point surge. But Perinar's second kill of the frame gave SIU a 25-23 set two win.

SIU hit just .133 in set two, and sided out 45% of the time, a stark contrast from the opening set. Set three saw the Salukis improve in both categories, and SIU didn't trail after Evansville scored the opening point of the third frame, but the Purple Aces were able to expose a flaw within a Saluki squad that has MVC title aspirations.

"We will play with anyone in the league," Ingram said. "And that's a bad thing to do. We can play with the best, and we can play with the teams that aren't at the top of the league. It's an "ism" that's a part of us. We need to shake that thing off and be able to dominate. We're not to the domination state yet. We need to be, but were not there yet."

The Salukis are next in action on Friday, Oct. 21, when they travel to Des Moines, Iowa to take on the Drake Bulldogs. First serve is set for 7 p.m.