Volleyball hosts UNI, Drake to open MVC play

Friday, September 23

Carbondale, Ill.

7:00 PM

Southern Illinois University

Northern Iowa

09/22/2016 | 11:44:00 | Women's Volleyball

Match Notes SIU Match Notes

The Salukis will play three matches in four nights, beginning Friday at 7 p.m.

Southern Illinois (9-5, 0-0 MVC) vs. Northern Iowa (9-5, 0-1 MVC) / Drake (9-5, 0-0 MVC)
Date & Time	Sept. 23 & 24, 2016 \| 7 p.m. CT
Location	Carbondale, Ill. \| Davies Gym
Tickets	877-SALUKIS \| SIUSalukis.com
Video Stream	ESPN3 with Kelly Burke and Danny Valle ESPN3 with Kelly Burke and Danny Valle (SIU vs. Drake)
Live Stats	Sidearm Stats
Southern Illinois	Game Notes \| Stats \| Media Guide
Northern Iowa	Game Notes \| Stats \| Media Guide
Drake	Game Notes \| Stats
MVC	Weekly Notes \| Stats
All-Time Series	Overall: UNI leads SIU, 52-12 \| Streak: SIU W1 \| Last Meeting: SIU 3-1 (25-16, 23-25, 25-23, 25-17) Overall: SIU leads Drake, 40-19 \| Streak: SIU W8 \| Last Meeting: SIU 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-20)
Social Media	@SIU_Volleyball \| @SIUSalukis \| Saluki Volleyball

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois volleyball team will host a pair of MVC foes this weekend, with the Salukis set to take on the UNI Panthers Friday at 7 p.m., before hosting the Drake Bulldogs Saturday at 7 p.m.

Quick Hits

• The Salukis went 2-2 this past week, defeating SEMO in straight-sets Tuesday before taking care of Youngstown State in four sets on Friday. SIU lost to a pair of ranked opponents on the final day of the Flyer Classic, dropping matches to Loyola Marymount and Dayton.

• SIU concludes 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.

• SIU tallied 12.5 total blocks in the 3-1 win over Youngstown St. on Sept. 17, marking the sixth time this season the Salukis have recorded 10-plus total blocks as a team. SIU currently leads the Valley in blocks per set (2.65) and is 24th in the nation in total blocks (103.0).

• After hitting a season-best .365 against Loyola Marymount on Saturday, the Salukis have already hit .300 or better as a team on four occasions, the most for the program through 14 matches since the 2010 season. Southern is hitting .238 as a team, with both Kolby Meeks (fourth, .382) and Alex Rosignol (eighth, .309) ranked in the top-10 of the Missouri Valley Conference.

The Opponents

• UNI (9-5, 0-1) comes into Friday's contest winners of their last three matches, and four of their last five. The Panthers' lone loss during that stretch came in their MVC opener, a five-set (25-21, 19-25, 20-25, 29-27, 11-15) defeat at the hands of the Illinois State Redbirds. Returning All-MVC First Team selection Kayla Haneline leads the Panthers in kills (3.40 per set), hitting efficiency (.331) and is second on the team in blocks (.96 per set). Fellow All-MVC First Teamer Amie Held also returns, and currently averages 2.92 kills per set and 3.77 digs per set. The Salukis trail the all-time series with the Panthers, 12-52, dating back to 1982. Nine of Southern's 12 all-time wins have come at home, with the Salukis riding a four-match home winning streak over the Panthers that dates back to the 2013 season. SIU is 5-3 against UNI under Coach Ingram.

• Drake (9-5, 0-0) comes into Saturday's contest having lost three of its last four matches. Most recently, the Bulldogs dropped a pair of matches to Western Illinois and Weber State. Drake is led offensively by Kyla Inderski, who's averaging 3.35 kills per set and hitting .215. SIU holds a commanding 40-19 all-time edge over Drake, including a 22-8 record at home in a series that dates back to 1978. The Salukis have won five-straight over Drake at home, and are a perfect 8-0 against the Bulldogs under Coach Ingram.

• Missouri State (9-5, 0-0) boasts some of the highest profile wins of any MVC school this season, as the Bears beat No. 14 Illinois in five sets on Aug. 27 before defeating No. 12 Ohio State in five sets on Sept. 9. Returning All-MVC selection Lily Johnson leads the Bears in kills (4.15 per set) and is second in digs (3.33 per set). Monday's matchup will be the 71st time the two schools have tangled on the court, with the Bears holding a 51-19 advantage over the Salukis. Southern went 0-2 last season at Missouri State, last winning at Springfield, Mo. on Nov. 14, 2014.

Match Notes

• The next Saluki victory will mark the 90th career win at SIU for Coach Ingram, and the 150th of his eight-year career. Ingram will become just the fourth Saluki head coach to win 90 matches while at Southern, and the first to do so since Sonya Locke won her 90th career match, a four-set victory over Evansville on Nov. 8, 1996. Ingram will most likely become the fastest Saluki head coach in the modern era to reach the 90-win plateau, as he has needed just 141 matches to come within a win of 90. It took Debbie Hunter 157 matches from 1975-78 to win her 90th, while Saluki great Sonya Locke needed 177 matches to win her 90th.

• The Salukis have had 21 triple-doubles in school history dating back to 1982, of which Viggars accounts for more than one-third of them (9). Her 11 kills, 16 digs and 38 assists against SEMO on Sept. 21, 2014 was the first triple-double by a Saluki since Holly Marita tallied 10 kills, 12 digs and 51 assists against Iowa on Aug. 30, 2003. Of the 10 times that a Saluki has finished in double-figures in kills, digs and assists, nine of them have come from Viggars. When Viggars recorded her sixth career triple-double at Butler on Sept. 19, 2015, she passed Dana Olden for most triple-doubles by a Saluki. Olden tallied five matches in which she reached double figures in kills, digs and blocks from 1989-92.

• The Salukis currently have three players hovering around the top-10 in school history for career double-doubles. Meg Viggars has recorded 50 career double-doubles, the fourth-most in school history. She needs 11 more this season to pass Kristie Kemner for most all-time. Andrea Estrada, who has 35 career double-doubles, ranks sixth and needs just five more to crack the top-five all-time. Hannah Kaminsky, who's recorded 26 assists-digs double-doubles, ranks 11th, needs just two more this season to pass Heather Herdes and move into 10th on SIU's all-time list.

Player Notes

• Andrea Estrada came close to becoming the 22nd Saluki to record 20 kills-20 digs in the same match, as she tallied 19 kills and 17 digs in SIU's five-set win over UCF on Sept. 2. The last 20-20 match came nearly eight years ago, when Jen Berwanger recorded 23 kills and 24 digs in Southern's five-set loss at Missouri State on Nov. 8, 2008.

• Andrea Estrada's .571 hitting efficiency in the win over SEMO was the second-highest in a single-match in her Saluki career, and is the fifth-best in the Valley amongst hitters with 12 or more kills in a match this season.

• Shannon Hagen set personal-bests in hitting efficiency (.667), kills (13), and total blocks (3.0) in SIU's win over Murray State on Sept. 6. Her .667 hitting efficiency is the third-best in the conference this season.

• Alex Rosignol set a new career-high with 13 kills in the five-set win over Cincinnati on Sept. 10.

• Rosignol also set a new career-best with four service aces in the win over Duquesne on Aug. 27, which is the second-most in a three-set match in the Valley this season. The Mount Carmel, Ill., native also ranks second in the conference with 1.16 blocks per set.

• Andrea Estrada has 905 career kills coming into Friday's match- ranking her 98th among active D1 athletes.

• Viggars' nine career triple-doubles are the second-most of any active NCAA athlete. Only Western Carolina's Jo-Leigh VerVelde has more, as she has 10 in her career.

• Kolby Meeks has recorded nine or more kills in five of SIU's last eight matches, including a career-high 16 in the four-set win over Youngstown State on Sept. 16. The junior transfer from Norcross, Ga. continues to get more involved in the Saluki offense, with 20 or more attempts in three of SIU's last five matches.

• Meg Viggars became the 11th Saluki to join the 1,000-dig club with her four digs in the win over SEMO on Sept. 13, and the first since Alex Rivera did so in 2014. She joins Debbie Barr as the only Salukis with 1,000 career assists/1,000 career digs, and currently sits in 11th on SIU's all-time list for career assists with 1,832. Viggars has also tallied 326 block assists, the fifth-most in school history.

• Andrea Estrada has twice recorded streaks of five-straight matches in which she has tallied kill-dig double-doubles, both of which came in 2015.

• Breanna Cullen made her collegiate debut in the loss to Western Kentucky on Sept. 9, recording four digs and an assist in two sets.

• Fellow freshman Ginger Perinar has played in eight matches this season, and tallied a career-best five kills in SIU's win over Youngstown State on Sept. 16.

• Mariana Pilon notched double-digit digs in 10 matches this season, including eight-straight. Her longest such streak is 11 matches, which she set last season from Sept. 18, 2015 to Oct. 17, 2015.

• Nellie Fredriksson continues to set career-bests. She set a new career-best with a .571 hitting efficency in SIU's sweep of SEMO on Sept. 13, after tying her career-high for kills (14) and attempts (33) against Northern Arizona on Sept. 3.

• McKenzie Dorris is leading the Salukis with a 1.36 blocks per set average, and has recorded multiple blocks in all eight matches she has appeared in this season.

• Abby Barrow hit .333 in SIU's loss to Western Kentucky, finishing with 6 kills on 18 attempts with no errors. It marked the first time in the Metamora, Ill., product's career that she did not record a hitting error. She hit a season-best .429 on 14 swings in SIU's loss to Loyola Marymount.

• Ashley Edelen set a new career-high with a pair of assists in the match against Western Kentucky on Sept. 9. The Louisville, Ky. native is well on her way to posting a career-high in digs for a season, as she currently has 79 digs, with her previous best, set last year, being 107.