Saluki volleyball closes out homestand Saturday against first-place Missouri State

Southern Illinois (4-12, 3-2 MVC) vs. Missouri State (13-5, 5-0 MVC)
Date & Time	Oct. 7 vs. Missouri State \| 7 p.m. CT
Video Stream	ESPN3
Live Stats	vs. Missouri State
Southern Illinois	Game Notes \| Stats \| Media Guide
Missouri State	Game Notes \| Stats \| Media Guide
MVC	Weekly Notes \| Stats
All-Time Series	Overall: Mo. State leads SIU, 52-20 \| Streak: MSU 1 \| Last Meeting: MSU 3-2 (19-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-14, 13-15)
Social Media	@SIU_Volleyball \| @SIUSalukis \| Saluki Volleyball

Carbondale, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois volleyball team closes out its four match homestand against the league-leading Missouri State Lady Bears on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. inside Davies Gym. The Lady Bears come into Saturday's match having won 21-straight Valley matches, with their last loss coming at the hands of SIU on Sept. 26, 2016.

All-Time Series vs. the Lady Bears
Missouri State leads the all-time series with the Salukis, 52-20. 14 of Southern's 20 wins in the series have come on its home court, including a 3-2 win over Missouri State inside Davies Gym on Oct. 5, 2015. Southern's last win over Missouri State came on Sept. 26, 2016, when Southern rallied from a first-set loss to defeat the Lady Bears in five sets. That loss marks the last defeat for the Lady Bears in Valley play, as Missouri State has rattled off 21-straight conference victories since it opened the 2016 season with back-to-back losses to Wichita State and SIU.

Scouting the Lady Bears
Missouri State (13-5, 5-0 MVC) comes into Saturday's match with the longest road win streak in the NCAA, sitting at 15-straight. The first-place Lady Bears currently lead the league with a .244 hitting percentage, and All-American Lily Johnson leads the Valley in service aces (24). She also ranks 10th in the nation with a 12.42 attempts per set average and her 294 total kills rank her second in the league, and seventh in the nation. Libero Emily Butters leads the defensive efforts, as she ranks seventh in the nation with 379 total digs.

Playing her best against the best
Andrea Estrada comes into Saturday's match against Missouri State having recorded double-doubles in six-straight matches against the Lady Bears, including 20 kills and 11 digs in SIU's five-set win at Missouri State on Sept. 26, 2016. The two-time All-MVC selection tallied 22 kills and 18 digs the last time the two programs tangled on Nov. 24, 2016 and has totaled 101 kills (3.48 kills/set) and 81 digs (2.79 digs/set) in seven career matches against the Lady Bears.

Barrow's big week
Abby Barrow continues to be one of Southern's most consistent passers. Barrow, a senior outside hitter who came into this season having never had more than nine digs in a match, has reached double-figures in the category in seven matches this season, including an active streak of five-straight matches with at least 10 digs. She finished with a career-high 23 digs in SIU's 3-2 win over Evansville on Sept. 29.

Nice up
Ashley Edelen tallied a career-best 29 digs in the 3-2 win over Evansville on Sept. 29. She has now recorded double-digit digs in nine-straight matches, and in 14 of SIU's 16 matches this season. She's notched 20-plus digs in seven matches, and has done so in back-to-back matches on three separate occasions.

Double-double
Alayna Martin recorded her fourth career double-double in the win over Evansville on Sept. 29. The Chesterfield, Mo. native dished out 34 assists and added a career-best 17 digs in Southern's 3-1 victory over Valpo on Sept. 25, and followed with 22 assists and 11 digs in the 3-2 win over Evansville. Martin is the 52nd Saluki with at least four double-doubles in a career.

Middles stepping up
SIU's middles were a model of efficiency this past week. Kolby Meeks and Patience Brown combined to hit .338 and totaled 66 kills and 20 blocks. Meeks hit a team-best .381, including a career-high .667 against Indiana State. She continues to lead the MVC in hitting percentage at .369. Brown, meanwhile, ranks ninth in the conference with a .299 hitting percentage. Southern joins Bradley as the only two programs to have two hitters ranked in the top-10 in the MVC in hitting percentage.

Ace in the hole
Abby Barrow recorded her 11th service ace of the season against Indiana State on Sept. 30, and has tallied at least one in five-straight matches. Barrow's 11 aces through 16 matches this season are two more than she had in her previous three seasons combined (9).

Feeding the hot hand
Rachel Maguire dished out a career-best 33 assists in the five-set win over Evansville on Sept. 29. 10 of Maguire's 33 assists went to fellow Bloomington, Ill. native Patience Brown, who put down 12 total kills in the win. Maguire also found Nellie Fredriksson for 12 of her team-high 14 kills in the win and has now recorded double-digit assists in 14-straight matches.

Coming up big
Nellie Fredriksson hit .444 and finished with a season-best 14 kills in Southern's win over Evansville. It marks the fourth time in her career that the Angelholm, Sweden native has put down 14 kills, as she had last done so against Northern Arizona on Sept. 3, 2016. She now needs 16 kills to reach 650 for her career.

Leading the way
The Salukis are 3-0 this season when Patience Brown records 10-plus kills. Brown recorded 14 in SIU's 3-1 win over Bradley on Sept. 22, and again put down 14 in Southern's 3-1 victory over Valpo on Sept. 25. She followed with 12 kills in SIU's five-set win over Evansville on Sept. 29.

One away from 50
Andrea Estrada needs one more double-double to become the fifth Saluki with at least 50 career double-doubles. Estrada recorded her fourth double-double of the season against Indiana State on Sept. 30, as she finished with 10 kills and 12 digs.

Never done that before
Andrea Estrada dished out a career-high four assists in the win over Evansville. The Bogota, Colombia native has recorded three assists on three occasions during her stellar career, including in her first career match against North Carolina on Aug. 28, 2014.

Next set cracks the top-10
Estrada will crack the top-10 in school history for sets played against Missouri State on Saturday. Estrada has played in 418 career sets heading into the match against the Lady Bears, and will pass Kristie Kemner (1999-02) should she play in at least two sets on Saturday.

14 from 6th
Estrada needs 14 kills to pass Pat Nicholson (1983-86) for sixth on SIU's all-time list.

Perfect off the bench
Hannah Becker put down three kills on three swings in the fourth set of SIU's 3-1 loss to Indiana State. It's the fourth time in her young career that she has tallied three-plus kills.

Active streak
Maggie Nedoma recorded 14 kills against Indiana State on Sept. 30, which marked the third-straight match, and eighth time this season, that the Brook Park, Ohio has put down 10-plus kills.

Active Career Leaders
Andrea Estrada's 1,251 career kills are the seventh-most in program history, and the 29th-most amongst active DI student-athletes. Her 1,225 career digs, meanwhile, rank her fifth in school history and are the 64th most amongst active players. Abby Barrow needs 44 kills to become the 15th Saluki to reach 1,000 career kills and her 956 kills rank in the top-100 at No. 93.

Streak Continues
SIU's comeback win over Evansville on Sept. 29 marked the 11th-straight victory for Southern over Evansville in a streak that dates back to 2011. SIU also improved to 28-3 against the Purple Aces on its home court.

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