Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Illinois State University
Salukis open MVC Tournament Thursday
11/23/2016 | 4:33:00 | Women's Volleyball
SIU takes on Illinois State Thursday at 5 p.m.
The Southern Illinois volleyball team will take on the Illinois State Redbirds Thursday, Nov. 24 at 5 p.m. in the opening round of the MVC Tournament. The fourth-seeded Salukis are making their fifth-straight appearance in the conference tournament, and will be looking to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2013.
• The Salukis will compete at the MVC Tournament for the fifth-consecutive season, the longest such streak for SIU since the MVC was formed in 1993. Prior to fifth-year head coach Justin Ingram's arrival in 2012, the Salukis had made the Valley tournament a total of six times since '93, and had only once done so in back-to-back seasons.
• SIU has twice advanced to the MVC title match, most recently doing so as the third-seed in the 2013 MVC Tournament, where they fell to Wichita State. Southern also advanced to the title match as the third-seed in 2002, where they lost to UNI in three sets. The Salukis hold a 6-11 all-time record in 10 appearances at the MVC Tournament dating back to 1992, with Southern's last win coming on Nov. 29, 2013 against UNI. Meg Viggars had 10 kills and 17 digs in that win over Northern Iowa, while Hannah Kaminsky had 11 digs.
• This will mark the second time SIU enters the MVC Tournament as the fourth-seed. SIU's only other appearance as the fourth-seed was in Coach Ingram's first season, when the Salukis lost to Illinois State in three sets.
• Of SIU's six tournament wins, five have come when the Salukis were the third-seed in the tournament.
Seed and record since 1992:
Sixth-seed: 0-2
Fifth-seed: 1-3
Fourth-seed: 0-1
Third-seed: 5-3
Second-seed: 0-1
• This will mark the fourth meeting between the two programs in the MVC Tournament, with ISU holding a 2-1 advantage. Dating back to the Gateway Conference, the Redbirds hold a 7-1 advantage in postseason matchups, with the Redbirds a perfect 5-0 against the Salukis during the days of the Gateway Conference Tournament. SIU last took on Illinois State in the MVC Tournament in 2012, when the fifth-seeded Redbirds swept an injury depleted Saluki squad. The Salukis defeated Illinois State in the opening round of the 2002 MVC Tournament, and followed with a win over Missouri State in the semifinals before falling to Northern Iowa in the MVC title match.
• Thursday's match will mark the 84th meeting between the two Illinois state schools since 1975, with the Redbirds holding a commanding 70-12-1 all-time advantage. The Salukis have won both meetings this season, winning in four sets at home before prevailing in five-sets at Redbird Arena.
• The Redbirds come into Thursday's match having lost four-straight, and five of their last six, with four of those five losses coming against teams in the MVC Tournament field.
• Hannah Kaminsky became the fifth Saluki to reach the 3,000 career assist plateau earlier this season, while Meg Viggars joined the 2,000-assist club with her 23 assists in SIU's win over Illinois State on Oct. 8. It marks the first time in program history that the Salukis have two setters with 2,000-plus career assists on the same team.
• Andrea Estrada became the 14th Saluki all-time to reach the 1,000 kill-plateau, and the fifth to do so during their junior season. It took Estrada 86 matches (321 sets) to reach 1,000, the third-fastest in school history in terms of matches played.
Four Salukis have reached the 1,000-kill mark during their junior season. Here they are in order of how quickly it took them to do it.
Dana Olden (1989-92): 76 matches/293 sets
Kristie Kemner (1999-02): 80 matches/274 sets
Andrea Estrada (2013-pres.): 86 matches/321 sets
Marlo Moreland (1995-98): 89 matches/286 sets
Jennifer Berwanger (2006-10): 96 matches/342 sets
• Andrea Estrada finishes the 2016 regular season sitting at 1,101 kills and 1,034 digs for her career. The Bogota, Colombia native, who became SIU's 14th member of the 1,000-kill club earlier this season, is now just the fourth Saluki to have both 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs. The redshirt junior joins former Saluki standouts Jennifer Berwanger (2006-10), Mary Maxwell (1980-83), Marlo Moreland (1995-98) in that exclusive club.
• The Salukis recorded their highest single-set sideout percentage in school history on Oct. 29, 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.
• Head coach Justin Ingram won his 100th career match while at SIU, and he did so in historically fast fashion. It took Ingram just 156 matches to reach the century mark, which not only makes him the fastest to reach 100 wins in school history, but its the second-fastest mark amongst current Valley coaches. Only Bobbi Petersen at UNI reached 100 wins at their current school faster, doing so in 117 matches. Petersen inherited a squad went 29-5 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, whereas Ingram took over a program coming off a 9-18 record.
Bobbi Petersen (UNI)- 117 matches to reach 100 (100-17/.854)
Justin Ingram (SIU)- 156 matches to reach 100 (100-56/.641)
Melissa Stokes (Missouri St.)- 164 to reach 100 (100-64/.610)
Chris Lamb (WSU)- 170 matches to reach 100 (100-70/.588)
Melissa Myers (ISU) 184 matches to reach 100 (100-84/.543)
Traci Dahl-Skinner (Indiana St.)- 268 matches to reach 100 (100-168/.373)
• SIU has hit .400 or better in 19 sets this season, and boast a 16-3 record in those sets. In the last eight seasons combined the Salukis have a .963 winning percentage (106-4) in sets in which they hit .400 or better, including a stretch from 2009-2014 in which SIU won 66-straight sets that they hit .400 or better in. The Salukis have a 75-4 (.949) set record when hitting .400 or better under head coach Justin Ingram.
Year-by-Year Record
2009: 14-0
2010: 10-0
2011: 7-0
2012: 17-0
2013: 8-0
2014: 10-1
2015: 24-0
2016: 16-3
Total: 106-4 (.962)
Under Ingram: 75-4 (.947)
• When tallying a single-set hitting efficiency of .400 or better under Coach Ingram, the Salukis go on to win more than 88% of the matches. SIU is 53-7 overall, and 29-4 in MVC play under Ingram in matches where they record a single-set of .400 or better.
Match record under Ingram when hitting .400 or better in a set:
2012: 10-0, 4-0 MVC
2013: 7-1, 6-1 MVC
2014: 8-2, 5-0 MVC
2015: 17-1, 10-1 MVC
2016: 11-3, 3-2 MVC
Total: 53-7 (.883), 29-4 (.878) MVC
• Dating back to the 2009 season, the Salukis have won 89.6% (78-9) of their matches when attacking at a .400 hitting efficiency or better during a single set, and are 41-5 in Missouri Valley Conference play when doing so.
Record in matches when hitting .400 or better in a single set.
2009: 10-0, 4-0 MVC
2010: 7-1, 3-0 MVC
2011: 5-1, 2-1 MVC
2012: 10-0, 4-0 MVC
2013: 7-1, 6-1 MVC
2014: 8-2, 5-0 MVC
2015: 17-1, 10-1 MVC
2016: 14-3, 7-2 MVC
Total: 78-9 (.896), 41-5 (.891) MVC
• The Salukis are 11-2 this season when tallying 10+ blocks in a single match. Under head coach Justin Ingram, SIU boasts an .811 winning percentage (56-13) when stuffing 10 or more of the oppositions' attempts, with the Salukis recording three separate streaks of five-straight matches in which they've blocked 10+ attempts.
Record when tallying 10+ blocks
2012: 12-2
2013: 8-3
2014: 8-3
2015: 17-3
2016: 11-2
Total: 56-13 (.811)
• Overall the Salukis have a .750 winning percentage (45-15) under Justin Ingram on their home floor, and are 33-12 against MVC foes at home under the 2015 MVC Coach of the Year.
Year-by-Year MVC Home Record
2012: 7-2
2013: 7-2
2014: 5-4
2015: 8-1
2016: 6-3
Total: 33-12 (.733)
Year-by-Year Home Record
2012: 11-2
2013: 9-3
2014: 7-5
2015: 9-1
2016: 9-4
Total: 45-15 (.750)
• The Salukis improved to 25-17 all-time in season openers, having won swept Central Michigan to open play at the IUPUI Invitational. Southern is 3-2 in season openers under head coach Justin Ingram.
• The Salukis opened the season with a sweep of the competition at the IUPUI Invitational. This is the first time since 2009 that SIU has started the season 3-0 and marks just the 13th time since 1975 that the Salukis have won at least three-straight to begin a season. Southern is one of 67 programs in the country without a loss.
• The Salukis have already recorded 10-plus service aces in a match twice this season. In SIU's 3-0 win over Duquesne, the Salukis tallied 10 aces, marking the first time since Nov. 23, 2013 that SIU has reached double-figures in aces. In their next match, a 3-1 victory over IUPUI, the Salukis once again tallied 10-plus aces, making it the first time SIU has accomplished the feat twice in a single-season since 2008.
• In their 3-2 win over Missouri State on Sept. 26 overcome a first set loss of 12 points, and marks just the sixth time in school history that SIU has rallied from a 10-point or more loss in set one to win the match, and the first time they had done so in almost 15 years. The 12-point first set loss is the second largest margin of defeat in a first set of a Saluki victory dating back to 1975. The only other occurrence came in SIU's Nov. 23, 2002 win over Illinois State in the opening round of the MVC Tournament, in which Southern lost the first set 15-30, but rallied to win the next three, 31-19, 30-26 and 30-24 to take the match and advance. The win over Missouri State marks the first Saluki victory in the 25-point set era in which SIU suffered such a lopsided defeat in set one but rallied to win the match.
• SIU concluded the non-conference portion of its 2016 schedule with a 9-5 (.642) record, matching their non-conference win total from a year ago. It also marks the second-straight season, and the ninth time in the past 11 seasons, the Salukis have posted a winning record during non-conference play. SIU is 38-23 (.623) in non-conference play since head coach Justin Ingram took over in 2012.
• Abby Barrow and Andrea Estrada each had 20 kills in SIU's win over Missouri State on Sept. 26. It marked only the fifth time since 2000 that two Salukis recorded 20-plus kills in the same match, and the first time since 2012. On Oct. 12, 2012, Laura Thole and Alysia Mayes put down 22 and 20 kills, respectively, in SIU's 3-2 win at Bradley, and on Oct. 22, 2010, Jennifer Berwanger tallied 29 kills and Jessica Whitehead added 28 kills in SIU's four-set win over Evansville. Prior to the change to 25-point sets from 30-point sets in 2008, there were two instances of two Salukis notching 20-plus kills. On Aug. 31, 2002, Lindsey Schultz and Kristie Kemner put down 20 kills apiece in SIU's four set win over Southwest Texas St., and later that season on Nov. 23, Tara Cains tallied 27 and Kristie Kemner totaled 23 kills in Southern's five-set win over Missouri State in the MVC Tournament.
• The Salukis recorded seven service aces in the win over Evansville on Oct. 15, their most against a Missouri Valley Conference opponent this season, and the most since SIU recorded eight in an Oct. 31, 2015 win at Bradley.
• SIU also tallied just two service errors in the win over Evansville, their fewest in a match this season, and the fewest since Southern recorded just two service errors in SIU's Nov. 14, 2015 win over Indiana State.
• The Salukis hit .607 in set one of their three-set loss to Wichita State on Oct. 10. It marked the first time since Sept. 19, 2009 that SIU has hit .600 or better in a single frame.
