Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Evansville
Salukis set for final regular-season road trip at Evansville
11/10/2016 | 3:21:00 | Women's Volleyball
SIU has won nine-straight over its travel partner.
The Salukis will close out the road portion of the 2016 regular-season Friday when they take on the Evansville Purple Aces. SIU won the last meeting against its travel partner, winning in straight-sets on Oct. 15. The match will be streamed on The Valley on ESPN3Â beginning at 7 p.m.
THE OPPONENT
• SIU holds a 42-11 advantage over Evansville in a series that dates by to 1983, with the Salukis riding a nine-match win streak over the Purple Aces. Evansville comes into Friday night's matchup having lost three in a row, and 14 of their last 15 conference matches this season. The Salukis last lost to the Aces coincidentally is their last loss at Evansville, a 3-0 defeat on Nov. 28, 2011.
UP NEXT
The Salukis will host a reunion for all SIU volleyball alumni the weekend of Nov. 18-19. The alumni reunion, which will correspond with senior night, will begin with pizza and drinks prior to Friday night's match against Wichita State (7 p.m.). The following day, alums are encouraged to take a tour of SIU's athletic facilities at 10 a.m., while tickets are available to Saturday's football game against Western Illinois (2 p.m.). Following the football game, the Salukis will take on first-place Missouri State at 7 p.m. inside Davies Gym on Senior Night. SIU will celebrate and honor its six seniors; Hannah Kaminsky, McKenzie Dorris, Mariana Pilon, Meg Viggars, Shannon Hagen and Yael Benjamin. For those interested in attending please RSVP to Bryce Williams at 618-453-1803 by Wednesday, Nov. 16.
In addition, all fans can get a $2 ticket to Saturday's match against Missouri State by presenting their ticket stub from Saturday's SIU football game.Â
TEAM NOTES
• The Salukis recorded their highest single-set sideout percentage in school history on Saturday, siding out on all 12 of Bradley's service attempts in the second set of SIU's sweep of the Braves. SIU's 78% sideout percentage for the match was their highest in a conference match this season and the Salukis improve to 6-0 this season in matches where their sideout percentage is 70% or better
• SIU ranks in the top-25 nationally in three categories- team assists (10th, 1,384), team kills (14th, 1,448), and is 24th in team blocks (262.5).
• The latest NCAA RPI report for the 2016 season has been released and the Valley has four teams featured in the top-60. Wichita State leads the league at No. 36, while UNI (No. 46), Missouri State (No. 49), and Southern Illinois (No. 58) are also among the nation's top-60.
• The Salukis tied a season-best with 15.0 blocks in the 3-1 win over Indiana State on Saturday. It was their most blocks in a conference match since Nov. 2, 2015. SIU has recorded 10+ blocks in 12 matches this season, and improved to 11-1 in those matches following Saturday's win. Southern continues to lead the Missouri Valley Conference in blocks per set (2.43/set).
• SIU's 3-2 win over Illinois State on Nov. 4 was its first win at Redbird Arena since 2009.
PLAYER NOTES
• Andrea Estrada tallied 34 digs (3.78/set) in two matches this weekend and now has 993 digs for her career. The Bogota, Colombia native, who became SIU's 14th member of the 1,000-kill club earlier this season, needs just seven digs to become the fourth Saluki to have both 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs. The redshirt junior will join former Saluki standouts Jennifer Berwanger (2006-10), Mary Maxwell (1980-83), Marlo Moreland (1995-98) in that exclusive club.
• Head coach Justin Ingram recorded the 100th win of his SIU career on Saturday, as the Salukis defeated the Indiana State Sycamores in four-sets. Ingram is just the third head coach in school history to eclipse the century mark, and becomes the quickest to reach the milestone. The 2015 MVC Coach of the Year needed just 156 matches to reach 100, 18 matches fewer than SIU's all-time wins leader, Debbie Hunter, who needed 174 matches before she won her 100th. The Salukis have now won 20-plus matches in four of Ingram's five seasons at the helm.
• Abby Barrow reached the 800-kill mark in earlier this season against Loyola, and now has 840 for her career.
• Alex Rosignol is second in the conference with a 1.14 blocks per set average. She's also cracked the top-35 nationally in hitting percentage, as she's currently hitting .376, which is the 34th-best efficiency in NCAA D1. Fellow middle hitter Kolby Meeks isn't far behind, as she's hitting .364 and is ranked 48th.
• Alex Rosignol had seven block assists and a solo block in the Oct.28 match against Loyola, moving her past Jenny Noel (1998-01) for 10th on SIU's all-time list. The junior middle from Mount Carmel, Ill. has 273 block assists in her three seasons at Southern.Â
• McKenzie Dorris finished with a career-high 12 kills and added a career-best nine blocks in SIU's 3-1 win over Indiana State on Nov. 5. It was the Metropolis, Ill. native's most blocks in a match since Sept. 2, 2014.Â
• Mariana Pilon established a new career-best with eight assists to go along with 11 digs in Southern's 3-1 win over the Sycamores on Nov. 5. It marks the seventh-straight match that the Sao Paulo, Brazil native has dug out 10+ balls.
• Hannah Kaminsky had 28 assists in SIU's win at Indiana State, giving her 3,258 career assists. She passed Lisa Cummins (1982-85) for fourth on Southern's all-time list.
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