Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
8-3
Youngstown State
5-6
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Youngstown State | 15 | 25 | 22 | 21 | 1 |
| Southern Illinois | 25 | 20 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Salukis Open Flyer Classic with 3-1 win over Penguins
09/16/2016 | 6:24:00 | Women's Volleyball
The Saluki volleyball team topped Youngstown State, 3-1 ((25-15, 20-25, 25-22, 25-21), to begin play at the Flyer Classic on the University of Dayton campus Friday afternoon.
Five Salukis (9-3) had at least five kills, including a career-high 16 from Kolby Meeks. The junior middle hitter also set season-bests in hitting efficiency (.600) and block assists (seven) as she continues to flourish in Southern's fast-paced offense. Andrea Estrada had 11 kills with 13 digs and a career-best four aces, while Alex Rosignol had five kills on .556 hitting. Meg Viggars tacked on five kills to go along with 22 assists, seven digs and four block assists, and Ginger Perinar chipped in five kills and three block assists.
Mariana Pilon tallied a season-best 20 digs and Hannah Kaminsky added seven digs and dished out 20 assists.
The Salukis hit .248, its third-straight match above .245 this season and the eighth time they've accomplished that this season. After hitting at a .440 clip in set one, Southern hit -.026 in set two, before rebounding to hit .290 and .387 in sets three and four, respectively.
Southern never trailed in the opening set, building an 8-5 lead into a 12-5 lead with Pilon serving. The Penguins trimmed the lead back down to five, 14-9, but SIU sided out on a kill by Nellie Fredriksson to push it back to six. Rosignol served six straight points, including back-to-back aces, to grow Southern's advantage to 12 (21-9). Youngstown State went on a 5-0 run to trim their deficit down to seven (21-14), but an Estrada kill gave SIU set one, 25-15.
After winning the first set in convincing fashion, the Salukis fell in set two, committing nearly twice as many hitting errors (11) in the second frame as they did in sets one, three and four combined (6).
The two sides engaged in a sideout battle in a third set that featured 11 ties and six lead changes. An ace by Estrada made it 15-14 in favor of the Salukis, and a double block by Meeks and Perinar on the ensuing Penguins attack gave Southern a two-point advantage. YSU sided out to get to within one, but an error by the Penguins coupled with a timely ace by Pilon gave SIU a three-point lead that held up.
The Salukis got off to a fast start in the fourth frame, scoring the first three points of the set and growing its lead to four, 9-5 on a kill by Rosignol. The Penguins responded with five-straight points to go up, 10-9 but the Salukis countered with a 4-0 run of their own to regain the lead, 13-10. Youngstown State responded with a 3-0 spurt to tie the score, 13-13, but SIU scored the next four points to build a lead that proved too much for the Penguins.
SIU will play two matches tomorrow, taking on Loyola Marymount at 9:30 a.m. before closing the Flyer Classic against the hosts, Dayton at 6 p.m.
