Volleyball travels to Loyola, Valparaiso to close out regular season

Southern Illinois (6-21, 5-11 MVC) at Loyola (4-23, 3-13 MVC), Valparaiso (16-14, 7-9 MVC)
Date & Time	Nov. 17 at Loyola \| 7 p.m. Nov. 18 at Valparaiso \| 7 p.m.
Video Stream	vs. Loyola \| ESPN3 vs. Valpo \| ESPN3
Live Stats	vs. Loyola \| Stat Broadcast vs. Valpo \| Stat Broadcast
Southern Illinois	Game Notes \| Stats \| Media Guide
Loyola	Game Notes \| Stats \| Media Guide
Valparaiso	Game Notes \| Stats \| Record Book
MVC	Weekly Notes \| Stats
Social Media	@SIU_Volleyball \| @SIUSalukis \| Saluki Volleyball

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois volleyball team will close out the 2017 regular season with a pair of crucial Missouri Valley Conference contests. SIU will travel to Chicago, Ill. to tangle with the Loyola Ramblers on Friday, Nov. 17, before traveling to Valparaiso on Saturday, Nov. 18.

Potential MVC Tournament Seeding
The Salukis are two games back of the MVC Tournament with two matches to play. SIU will need to win both of its matches over the weekend to advance to the conference tournament and will require some help as well. Valpo opens the weekend at first place Missouri State, while Indiana State is at Illinois State and Bradley. If SIU wins both and ends in a three-way tie with Indiana State and Valpo at 7-11, it would earn the fifth-seed as Southern holds tiebreakers over both teams. The first is head-to-head matches while the second is a power ranking system in which point totals are assigned for each conference win, with 20 points given for a win over the first-place team on the road, 19 for a win over the first-place team at home, etc. If Indiana State and SIU tie for the 6th seed, the Salukis will advance because of their win at home over Drake.

All-time series vs. Loyola
The Salukis hold a 7-6 series lead against the Loyola Ramblers in a series that began 1984. The two teams met just four times prior to Loyola joining the MVC in 2013 with SIU winning three of four of those meetings. Since then, the Ramblers hold a 5-4 advantage. Loyola swept the season series a year ago, and have won four of the last five meetings between the two programs including a 3-1 win at SIU on Oct. 30. The Salukis are 4-2 all-time at Loyola, with their last road win over the Ramblers coming in a 3-2 win on Oct. 30, 2015.

Scouting the Ramblers
The Ramblers have won three of their last five matches after snapping a 16-match losing streak at SIU on Oct. 30. Loyola defeated Bradley in five-sets on Nov. 3 and swept Evansville on Nov. 11. Gabby Maciagowski leads the Ramblers with 235 kills (2.90/set) while the Loyola defensive efforts are led by Alex Nunez, who is averaging 3.49 digs per set.

All-time vs. the Crusaders
The Salukis are 4-0 all-time vs. the Crusaders, who joined the MVC this past summer to replace Wichita State. Southern won the first-ever MVC meeting between the programs on Sept. 25, a 3-1 victory behind 14 kills from Maggie Nedoma and Patience Brown. Southern won the first-ever meeting between the two programs, a 3-0 win on Sept. 11, 1993. The two teams tangled once again at the Saluki Invitational in 2009, as the Salukis won a five-set thriller to finish their home tournament with a 3-0 record. The Salukis again faced the Crusaders with a tournament title on the line in 2012, as the Salukis defeated Valpo in straight-sets on Sept. 1, 2012 to win the Billiken Invitational.

Scouting the Crusaders
The Crusaders, under the direction of 16-year head coach Carin Avery, have won two of their last three heading into the weekend. Valpo will open the weekend against first-place Missouri State before hosting the Salukis on Saturday. The Crusaders lead the nation in digs per set (20.08/set) and attacks per set (41.55/set), and rank first in the conference in blocks (242) and blocks per set (2.26/set). Libero Rylee Cookerly ranks in the top-10 nationally in digs per set (9th; 5.80/set) and total digs (9th; 621). Sydney Bronner leads the Valley in blocks per set (1.03/set) while Katherine Carlson leads the MVC in aces (40).

Coach Thompson vs. the Crusaders
First-year head coach Kari Thompson is 2-0 all-time vs. the Crusaders. Thompson coached the North Dakota State Bison to a 3-2 win over Valpo on Oct. 19, 2014, and this year her Salukis defeated the Crusaders in four sets.

Success against the Ramblers
Barrow recorded her 1,000th career kill vs. Loyola on Oct. 30 and has finished with double-digit kills in six of her seven career meetings with the Ramblers, including a career-high 21 kills at Loyola on Oct. 30, 2015. The Metamora, Ill. native has put down 10-plus kills in 49 of her 120 career matches, including 33 times in Valley play. The two-time MVC Scholar Athlete team selection has reached double-digits against all nine MVC teams with the exception of newcomer Valpo. Her six times with double-digit kills against Loyola are the most for her against any Valley team, with a complete list of times that Barrow reached double-figures below:

Matches w/ 10-plus kills for Abby Barrow
vs. Loyola: 6
vs. Evansville: 5
vs. Drake: 5
vs. Bradley: 4
vs. Northern Iowa: 4
vs. Missouri State: 4
vs. Indiana State: 2
vs. Illinois State: 2
vs. Wichita State: 1

Libero spot on lock
Ashley Edelen has started all 27 matches at libero for SIU this season, and currently ranks No. 10 in the MVC in digs per set (4.22/set). She has notched 10-plus digs in 24 of SIU's 27 matches, including 10 matches with at least 20 digs. She finished with a career-high 29 digs in SIU's 3-2 win over Evansville on Sept. 29, and comes into the weekend 13 digs shy of 800 for her career.

9 shy of 200
Freshman Maggie Nedoma needs nine kills to reach 200 for the year. The Brook Park, Ohio native has finished with 10-plus kills in eight matches this season, including a career-best 18 vs. Oakland on Sept. 8.

Big Time Comeback
The Salukis overcame lopsided losses in sets one and three in their 3-2 comeback victory over Drake on Nov. 11. While it was SIU's 11th win over Drake in its last 12 meetings, it also marked 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. The 14-point first set loss, meanwhile, is the second largest margin of defeat in the first set of a Saluki victory dating back to 1975.

10-plus digs
Barrow tallied 11 digs against Northern Iowa on Nov. 12. It marked the 11th time this season that she has reached double figures in the category after having never done so coming into her senior campaign.

700 career kills
Nellie Fredriksson recorded her 700th career kill in the win over Drake on Nov. 11. She finished with 11 kills in the win, which is the fourth time this season she has reached double figures.

10-plus kills for Estrada
Andrea Estrada recorded 10 kills against Drake on Nov. 11. It marked the 75th time in 122 career matches that the two-time All-MVC selection has put down ten-plus kills.

Serving Specialist
Alison Thomas has played in six-straight matches for the first time in her young Saluki career as she has subbed in to serve. In five of the seven matches, Thomas has recorded at least one ace, and she added a career-best two digs vs. Loyola on Oct. 30.

1,300 career dig
In SIU's 3-1 win over Indiana State on Oct. 27, Andrea Estrada recorded her 1,300 career dig. She joins Kristie Kemner (1999-02) and Jennifer Berwanger (2006-10) as the the only three Salukis in program history with 1,300 kills/1,300 digs.

1,000 career kills/1,000 digs
Estrada is one of four players in the Missouri Valley Conference with 1,000 career kills/1,000 career digs. She's joined on the list by Missouri State's Lily Johnson, Drake's Kyla Inderski and UNI's Bri Weber.

500 Kills of her career
Kolby Meeks put down a team-best 13 kills in the win over Drake to surpass 500 for her career. 395 of Meeks' 515 career kills have come in a Saluki uniform since she transferred from South Alabama.

Second in the Valley
Kolby Meeks is second in the MVC with a .350 hitting percentage. She has hit over .500 in seven matches this season, and has hit over .300 in 14 of SIU's 27 matches this season.

Just the two of us
Nellie Fredriksson and Andrea Estrada will both play in their 123rd career match against Loyola. In doing so, they will move into sole possession of sixth on SIU's all-time matches played list. Should they both play against Valpo on Saturday, it will move them into a four-way tie with Darlene Hogue (1982-85) and Hannah Kaminsky (2013-16) for fourth in program history. Should Abby Barrow play in both matches over the weekend, she will be tied with Taylor Pippen (2012-15) for eighth on SIU's all-time matches played list.

10 kills from fifth
Andrea Estrada needs 10 kills over the weekend to pass Jennifer Berwanger (2006-10) for fifth on SIU's all-time kills list. The Bogota, Colombia native moved into fourth in program history for digs with seven against Northern Iowa on Nov. 12.

37 swings shy of 3,000
Abby Barrow can become the 10th Saluki in program history to record 3,000 attempts in a career with 37 swings over the weekend. Barrow is averaging 6.38 attempts per set this season and would join Andrea Estrada on the list. Estrada ranks third in program history with 3,887 attempts.

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