Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
5-0
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Western Michigan
2-4
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Michigan | 19 | 19 | 20 | 0 |
| Southern Illinois | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
SIU Volleyball wraps up play at Saluki Invitational
09/04/2016 | 1:28:00 | Women's Volleyball
Salukis go 2-1 at home invitational
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Saluki volleyball team finished in a three-way tie for first place at the 2016 Saluki Invitational, as they went 2-1 during the two-day event inside the SIU Arena. The team title went to UCF by virtue of the first tiebreaker, which was set win percentage.
After the tiebreaker was assessed and the dust settled, UCF finished first, Northern Arizona second, SIU third and Western Michigan fourth. The Knights won 8 of the 12 sets they played in for a .667 win percentage, while Northern Arizona and Southern Illinois each won 7-of-12 during the two-day invitational.
Southern began the day with a straight-set win over Western Michigan (2-5) before falling to a fellow NCAA Tournament team from last year, Northern Arizona, in four sets.
In Saturday's 3-0 win (25-19, 25-19, 25-20) over Western Michigan (2-5), Meg Viggars narrowly missed out on yet another double-double, finishing with nine kills on an efficient 16 swings with no errors for a .562 hitting percentage. The Stokes-on-Trent, England native also shared setting duties with fellow senior Hannah Kaminsky, dishing out 6.42 assists per set. She now needs just 21 digs to join Debbie Barr as the only Salukis to have 1,000-digs/1,000 assists in a career.
The Salukis never trailed in set one against the Broncos, racing out a 5-0 lead with Kaminsky serving and never looking back. Estrada had the hot hand, finishing with four kills in the frame. She, along with libero Mariana Pilon, were essential in Southern posting an 80% sideout percentage in the frame, scoring 16 points off 20 Bronco serves.
SIU was nearly as good siding out in set number two against the Broncos, successfully getting the serve right back on 14 of WMU's 19 serves. Viggars tallied four kills in the set, while Rosignol and Barrow each chipped in three.
The Broncos took a short-lived 6-2 lead in set three. A solo block by McKenzie Dorris highlighted a run that allowed SIU to get to within one (6-7) and the Salukis later took the lead for good, 15-14, on a kill by Estrada.
In SIU's second match of the day, in a matchup of two NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, Northern Arizona (3-2) bested Southern Illinois, 3-1 (28-26, 23-25, 25-23, 25-18) in the nightcap.
Four Salukis finished in double-figures in kills, led by Nellie Fredriksson with 14. Estrada added 12, while both Barrow and Viggars chipped in 12. For Viggars, she came a dig away from her first triple double of the season, tallying 10 kills, 29 assists and nine digs in the four-setter.
At the conclusion of the invitational Saturday, junior middle Alex Rosignol was named to the All-Tournament team.
Rosignol hit .340 during Southern's three matches over the weekend, finishing with 25 kills on 50 attempts with just eight errors. The Mount Carmel, Ill., native also averaged a block per set and was just as good from the service line, adding three service aces. It marks the second tournament this season that Rosignol has earned All-tourney recognition.
The Saluki attack was evenly distributed amongst their outsides, with Andrea Estrada and Abby Barrow each finishing with 36 kills during Southern's 2-1 weekend. Both outsides averaged 3.0 kills per set, while Estrada also averaged a team-best 4.0 digs per set in the back row for the Salukis.
Southern is back in action Tuesday, when it hosts the Murray State Racers at Davies Gym. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
