Saturday, November 11
Carbondale, Ill.
2 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
6-20, 5-10MVC
3
vs
2
Drake University
23-7, 12-4MVC
1
2
3
4
5
F
Drake
25
25
25
16
13
2
Southern Illinois
11
27
11
25
15
3
Photo by: Madison Case
Salukis rally for comeback win over Bulldogs
11/11/2017 | 6:42:00 | Women's Volleyball
SIU overcame a 2-1 deficit to defeat Drake, 3-2.
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois volleyball team came back from an early deficit to defeat Drake, 3-2 (11-25, 27-25, 11-25, 25-16, 15-13) inside Davies Gym Saturday afternoon.
The Salukis dropped set one, 25-11 but rebounded to win set two, 27-25. Southern suffered a similarly lopsided loss in set three, 25-11, but responded to take set four 25-16 to force a fifth set. The Salukis then rallied from an 11-8 deficit in the fifth frame to take the set, 15-13.
The comeback victory, SIU's 11th win over Drake in its last 12 meetings, marks just the seventh time in school history that SIU has rallied from a 10-point or more loss in set one to win the match while the 14-point first set loss is the second largest margin of defeat in the first set of a Saluki victory dating back to 1975.
"I was really happy with our effort today," first-year head coach Kari Thompson said. "I thought we bounced back well. Volleyball is a game of momentum and you have to be able to stop it. So if you don't win a set you have to be able to bounce back and win the next set. That's something we did really well today."
The Salukis were able to overcome lopsided losses in sets one and three on the strength of their defense. Drake hit a combined .420 in sets one and three with just four attack errors, but hit .121 with 20 attack errors in sets two, four and five.
"Defense was a big part of it," Thompson said of her team's comeback win. "If you look at the first and third sets, we didn't really play much (defense). Alysa Sutton was a great spark for us defensively. She came in and her defensive effort was what we needed."
Sutton entered the match in the fourth set and finished with her highest digs per set average (4.5/set) of the season. The sophomore transfer from Gaston, Ind. added a kill on 14 swings.
The Salukis had three senior hitters reach double figures for kills, led by Kolby Meeks.
Meeks hit .444 with 13 kills against just one error and added five block assists. Andrea Estrada stuffed the stat sheet, as she notched her 56th career double-double. The two-time All-MVC selection put down 10 kills to go along with 13 digs, five assists, two aces and a solo block. Nellie Fredriksson was the third Saluki in double figures as she finished with 11 kills.
"Its our last chance to play as a team together at home," Estrada said. "We played like we didn't have anything to lose. I mean we know that we still have a chance (to advance to the MVC Tournament), but we wanted to leave it all out there."
SIU is one game back of the sixth, and final, spot in the MVC Tournament with three matches to go. Indiana State is currently in sixth and went up one game on the Salukis for the sixth seed with a 3-1 win over Loyola Saturday.
"There's going to be things outside of our control, so all we can control is playing our best volleyball," Thompson said. "Whether we get to play in the (MVC) tournament or just the three matches left, its all about Northern Iowa right now and anything after these guaranteed games is just bonus for us. We are going to have to play some good volleyball to get there."
The Salukis will host the Northern Iowa Panthers on Sunday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. for Senior Day. Southern will honor its six seniors following the match.
The Salukis dropped set one, 25-11 but rebounded to win set two, 27-25. Southern suffered a similarly lopsided loss in set three, 25-11, but responded to take set four 25-16 to force a fifth set. The Salukis then rallied from an 11-8 deficit in the fifth frame to take the set, 15-13.
The comeback victory, SIU's 11th win over Drake in its last 12 meetings, marks just the seventh time in school history that SIU has rallied from a 10-point or more loss in set one to win the match while the 14-point first set loss is the second largest margin of defeat in the first set of a Saluki victory dating back to 1975.
"I was really happy with our effort today," first-year head coach Kari Thompson said. "I thought we bounced back well. Volleyball is a game of momentum and you have to be able to stop it. So if you don't win a set you have to be able to bounce back and win the next set. That's something we did really well today."
The Salukis were able to overcome lopsided losses in sets one and three on the strength of their defense. Drake hit a combined .420 in sets one and three with just four attack errors, but hit .121 with 20 attack errors in sets two, four and five.
"Defense was a big part of it," Thompson said of her team's comeback win. "If you look at the first and third sets, we didn't really play much (defense). Alysa Sutton was a great spark for us defensively. She came in and her defensive effort was what we needed."
Sutton entered the match in the fourth set and finished with her highest digs per set average (4.5/set) of the season. The sophomore transfer from Gaston, Ind. added a kill on 14 swings.
The Salukis had three senior hitters reach double figures for kills, led by Kolby Meeks.
Meeks hit .444 with 13 kills against just one error and added five block assists. Andrea Estrada stuffed the stat sheet, as she notched her 56th career double-double. The two-time All-MVC selection put down 10 kills to go along with 13 digs, five assists, two aces and a solo block. Nellie Fredriksson was the third Saluki in double figures as she finished with 11 kills.
"Its our last chance to play as a team together at home," Estrada said. "We played like we didn't have anything to lose. I mean we know that we still have a chance (to advance to the MVC Tournament), but we wanted to leave it all out there."
SIU is one game back of the sixth, and final, spot in the MVC Tournament with three matches to go. Indiana State is currently in sixth and went up one game on the Salukis for the sixth seed with a 3-1 win over Loyola Saturday.
"There's going to be things outside of our control, so all we can control is playing our best volleyball," Thompson said. "Whether we get to play in the (MVC) tournament or just the three matches left, its all about Northern Iowa right now and anything after these guaranteed games is just bonus for us. We are going to have to play some good volleyball to get there."
The Salukis will host the Northern Iowa Panthers on Sunday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. for Senior Day. Southern will honor its six seniors following the match.
Team Stats
DU
SIU
Kills
67
56
Errors
24
22
Attempts
184
181
Hitting %
.234
.188
Points
81.0
70.0
Assists
65
55
Aces
7
5
Blocks
7.0
9.0
Game Leaders
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
10
Aces
2
Blocks
2
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
Outside Hitter
/ Women's VolleyballOutside Hitter
/ Women's VolleyballMiddle Hitter
/ Women's Volleyball
Outside Hitter
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