Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Western Kentucky
Volleyball set to travel to Western Kentucky for Holiday Inn Invitational
09/08/2016 | 3:46:00 | Women's Volleyball
Salukis will take on Western Kentucky, Michigan State, and Cincinnati during the two-day event.
• Southern Illinois will travel to Western Kentucky for the Holiday Inn University Plaza Invitational this weekend. The Salukis will face the no. 23 ranked Hilltoppers on Friday, before taking on Michigan State, who received 90 votes and sits just outside the AVCA Top-25, and Cincinnati on Saturday.
• Live statistics are available for all three matches this weekend. All links can be found here. The match vs. Western Kentucky will be streamed live, but a paid subscription is required.
SALUKI NOTES
• The Salukis finished in a three-way tie for first place at their home invitational, posting a 2-1 record with victories over the University of Central Florida and Western Michigan. After the tiebreaker was assessed, the Knights took home the team title, with SIU middle Alex Rosignol earning a spot on the All-Tournament team. Southern improved to 76-41 all-time at the Saluki Invitational dating back to 1978, and 9-3 under fifth-year head coach Justin Ingram.
• Michigan State claimed second in the Auto Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational last weekend, falling to No. 7 Florida in the championship match. The Spartans defeated both Morgan State and Central Michigan on Saturday before being swept by the Gators on Sunday. MSU received the most votes (90) of any team not in the AVCA Top-25. Southern is 0-3 all-time against Michigan State, with the last meeting between the two programs coming in 1980.
• Cincinnati enters the weekend at 4-2 overall, with wins over Middle Tennessee, Louisiana-Monroe, Wichita State and IUPUI. Sophomore outside hitter Jordan Thompson was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week last week after tallying double-digit kills in three matches. She leads the Bearcats with 4.82 kills per set and is hitting .253. The last meeting between the two programs was in 1979, with SIU sporting a 1-2-2 all-time record against Cincinnati.
• The host Hilltoppers are fresh off a win over previously-undefeated Belmont, and are ranked no. 23 in the most recent AVCA poll with a 7-1 record. Head coach Travis Hudson is in his 22nd season at the helm of his alma mater, having won the Conference USA title in back-to-back seasons. SIU has split its two previous matchups with WKU since 2001, with the Hilltoppers defeating the Salukis, 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 16-25, 22-25) a year ago. Alyssa Cavanaugh leads WKU with 4.18 kills per set.
• The Salukis lead the MVC in kills per set (14.12), assists per set (13.32), blocks per set (2.82) and service aces per set (1.48), and are second in hitting efficiency (.252).
• Southern opened the season by winning the IUPUI Invitational championship, defeating Central Michigan, Duquesne and IUPUI on their way to claiming the crown. It marked the first time since 2009 that the Salukis have opened a season 3-0.
• The Salukis are 34-19 (.641) in non-conference matches under head coach Justin Ingram.
• The Salukis have recorded 10-plus blocks in four of seven matches this season, including a season-best 15.0 total blocks in SIU's 3-2 in over UCF on Sept. 2. Southern recorded double-digit block totals in 20 of 33 matches a year ago.
PLAYER NOTES
• Alex Rosignol was named to the Saluki Invitational All-Tournament Team. Rosignol has earned All-Tournament honors in each of the first two weekends.
• Meg Viggars has four double-doubles this season, while Andrea Estrada has tallied two and Hannah Kaminsky recorded her first of the season with 24 assists and 11 digs in the 3-1 win over IUPUI on Aug. 27.
• Viggars has hit .400 or better in three matches this season, including hitting .429 in SIU's 3-0 win over Murray State on Tuesday.
• Shannon Hagen finished with 13 kills on 18 attempts with just one error in the win over Murray State, posting career-highs in kills and efficiency (.667).
• Abby Barrow has recorded 10 or more kills in a team-best four matches this season.
• Alex Rosignol has notched at least one service ace in five of SIU's seven matches this season, including four in Southern's 3-0 win over Duquesne on Aug. 26. As a team, the Salukis have twice tallied 10 service aces in a match, most recently recording 10 in the 3-1 win over IUPUI.
• Mariana Pilon has double-digit dig outputs in five-straight matches, including a season-high 19 in SIU's 3-2 win over UCF on Sept. 2.
• Andrea Estrada's stat line in the win over UCF was a sight to behold- 19 kills with just two errors on 48 attempts. The Bogota, Columbia native has recorded 10-plus kills in three matches this season. The Salukis are 5-0 this season when their preseason All-MVC selection hits .200 or better.
• Kolby Meeks recorded season-highs in kills (9), attempts (16), and blocks (5) in the win over Murray State on Tuesday.
• Freshman outside Ginger Perinar was a spark off the bench in SIU's win over the Racers Tuesday, playing in two sets and recording four kills on nine attempts with no errors.
