Salukis fall to Oakland, 3-1 on opening day of Western Michigan Invitational

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The Saluki volleyball team dropped its opening match at the Western Michigan Invitational, as Oakland (Mich.) defeated Southern, 3-1 (25-27, 25-21, 22-25, 20-25) Friday evening in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Five Salukis (0-6) had at least five kills, including a career-high 18 from Maggie Nedoma. The freshman opposite hitter also set a career-best in hitting efficiency (.552) as she continues to flourish in Southern's fast-paced offense. Andrea Estrada had a season-high 21 digs, which marked the seventh time in 101 career matches that the Bogota, Colombia native has recorded 20+ digs in a match. She also added eight kills. Nellie Fredriksson chipped in eight kills and a solo block while Patience Brown tacked on five kills on 12 swings.

Alayna Martin finished with 26 assists and added six digs, while Rachel Maguire tallied 18 assists and five digs.

Southern got out to its largest lead of the opening set on a kill by Nellie Fredriksson that put the Salukis ahead, 19-13. The Golden Grizzlies had other plans, however, as they tied the score, 21-21, and eventually broke a 25-25 thanks to a service error and an attack error by the Salukis.

Southern never trailed in the second set, as they built a six-point lead (16-10) and never looked back. The Golden Grizzlies cut the deficit to one, 19-18 on a service error by the Salukis, but Southern built a four point lead that held up to take set two, 25-21.

The Salukis claimed an early 8-6 advantage in set three on a Golden Grizzlies service error. It quickly became a two-point Oakland lead after the Golden Grizzlies rattled off four-straight points, which included back-to-back kills by Darien Bandel. A sideout kill by Estrada on the ensuing Oakland serve ended the run and got SIU to within one, but that was as close as SIU could get.

The two sides engaged in a sideout battle in a fourth set that featured 12 ties and five lead changes. Back-to-back kills by Nedoma made it 14-13 in favor of the Salukis, and Southern got a little breathing room courtesy of an ace by Maguire that put SIU ahead, 16-14. Oakland, though, closed the match on an 11-4 run to take set four, 25-20.
SIU will take on Western Michigan Saturday at 7 p.m. EST to conclude play at the WMU Invitational.

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