Salukis cruise to 3-0 win over Redhawks

Tuesday, September 13

Cape Girardeau, Mo.

6:30 PM

Southern Illinois University

8-3

SEMO

1-10

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Southern Illinois	25	25	25	3
Southeast Missouri	15	16	23	0

09/13/2016 | 10:03:00 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

SIU hits a season-high .343 in the win over SEMO

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

The Southern Illinois volleyball team made quick work of Southeast Missouri, defeating the Redhawks in straight-sets, winning by set scores of 25-15, 25-16, 25-23 Tuesday night at Houck Field House.

Hitting a season-best .343 for the match while holding the Redhawks to a .114 clip, SIU improves to 8-3 on the season and has now won nine of its last ten matches against SEMO dating back to the 2005 season.

"I thought we started well," fifth-year head coach Justin Ingram said. "I thought we had things that we wanted to accomplish right away and we got the middles going early. Kolby was red hot early, which freed up our outside and right side hitters. We were efficient early and followed the game plan as best we could. As the match continued it lessened a bit, but at the same time we ended up pretty efficient."

The Salukis had 49 kills in a balanced offensive attack led by preseason All-MVC selection Andrea Estrada's 17 kills. Estrada added 13 digs to notch her fifth double-double of the season, and her .571 hitting efficiency is a season-best. Nellie Fredriksson totaled nine kills on 14 attempts with just one error to hit a career-best .571 while Abby Barrow added 11 kills, and Kolby Meeks chipped in seven.

"There were a lot of single blocks tonight, so we did a good job of finding holes in the defense," Ingram said.

Meg Viggars and Hannah Kaminsky piloted the Saluki attack, finishing with 23 and 22 assists, respectively. Kaminsky added seven digs.

SIU also posted a 75% sideout percentage, including a season-high 81% in set two. Defensive specialist Ashley Edelen and libero Mariana Pilon each recorded seven digs to lead the Saluki defensive efforts.

The Salukis never trailed in the opening set, racing out to a 5-1 lead behind a pair of kills by Meeks and Estrada. Back-to-back kills by Barrow made it 8-4 Salukis, and Estrada's fifth kill of the frame gave SIU its largest lead of the set, 17-7. SIU cruised from there, winning 25-15 while hitting at a .400 clip.

SIU once again got the ball to Estrada to open the second frame, with her second kill of the set giving Southern a 3-0 advantage. Back-to-back kills by Fredriksson and Estrada grew SIU's lead to 13-7, and Viggars found Barrow for her fifth kill of the set to put SIU ahead, 21-12. Barrow hit a team-best .714 in set two, scoring on five of her seven attempts.

The third set was much closer then either of the two previous sets, with SEMO taking its first lead of the match in the frame. With the Redhawks clinging to a 22-20 lead, SIU called timeout to regroup. The timeout worked, as kills by Barrow and Fredriksson, followed by a double block by Fredriksson and McKenzie Dorris, tied the set 23-23. With the score knotted, Viggars found Estrada, who put down her 17^th kill of the match to give SIU a 24-23 advantage. A double block by Fredriksson and Dorris ended the match and gave Southern its eighth win of the season.

The Salukis will travel to Dayton, Ohio this weekend to take part in the Dayton Invitational. SIU will open the two-day event against Youngstown State on Friday at 2:30 p.m., before facing a pair of opponents who received votes in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll in Loyola Marymount (9:30 a.m.) and Dayton (6 p.m.).