Saluki Volleyball rallies for five-set victory over Evansville

Friday, September 29

Carbondale, Ill.

7 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

4-11, 3-1MVC

University of Evansville

6-9, 0-3MVC

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Evansville	26	25	10	21	15	2
Southern Illinois	24	21	25	25	17	3

Photo by: Sean Carley

Saluki Volleyball rallies for five-set victory over Evansville

09/29/2017 | 11:24:00 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

The Salukis overcame an early 2-0 deficit to win their 11-straight over the Purple Aces

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois volleyball team overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat Evansville, 3-2 (24-26, 21-25, 25-10, 25-21, 17-15) inside Davies Gym Friday night.

The Salukis, now 4-11 and 3-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference play, overcame a sluggish start in which they committed 17 total errors, including seven service errors, in a 26-24 first set loss. The second set was more of the same, as Southern hit just .062, and the Purple Aces took a 2-0 lead into the locker room at intermission.

"The first two sets were completely unnecessary," senior outside hitter Andrea Estrada said. "The way we played was awful. We yelled at each other in the locker room (during intermission) and we realized we had to come back and play. We started to do our jobs individually and did what we were suppose to do."

The Salukis responded, as they hit .538 (15-1-26), posted a 90% sideout percentage and committed just two total errors to win set three in convincing fashion, 25-10. Southern built upon its momentum in the fourth frame, as they hit .350 to force a fifth and decisive set. Once there, SIU controlled the fifth, with a kill by Estrada on match point giving Southern a hard-fought, 3-2 victory.

"I really liked the way we came out in set three, finished in set four and then found a way to gut it out in set five," first-year head coach Kari Thompson said. "Evansville fought hard. They had two players that played phenomenally well, and defensively they went for everything, continuously."

The Purple Aces (6-9, 0-3 MVC) offense ran through Rachel Tam all night, as she hit from all over the court and set career-highs in both kills (27) and attempts (79). The Salukis knew, that to be successful, they were going to have to take advantage of when Tam was out of the front row.

"We knew with (Tam) playing as well as she was playing, we needed to capitalize when she was in the back row and make those the rotations we could get some points in," Thompson said. "And that's what we did in the third set. Did it back and forth in the fourth too. She's a great player. She really had composure and you could tell she's the heart and soul of that team."

The Salukis were led by their seniors, as Nellie Fredriksson hit .444 with a season-high 14 kills to go along with an ace and five block assists. Abby Barrow notched her third career double-double, as she tallied 12 kills and finished with a career-high 23 digs. Estrada added nine kills, a career-best four assists, two aces and eight digs, while Ashley Edelen finished with a career-high 29 digs.

Patience Brown added 12 kills on 34 swings to go along with a solo block and seven block assists, while Maggie Nedoma put down 10 kills and added three block assists. Alayna Martin recorded her fourth career double-double, as she had 22 assists and 11 digs. Rachel Maguire tallied a career-high 33 assists and chipped in five digs.

The win over the Purple Aces marked the 11th-straight for Southern over Evansville in a streak that dates back to 2011. Southern also improves to 28-3 against the Purple Aces on its home court.

The Salukis will go for their third-straight MVC win on Saturday, Sept. 30 when they celebrate Camper Reunion, as well as Military Appreciation Day, against the Indiana State Sycamores. The match is slated for a 7 p.m. start time.