Volleyball falls in hard-fought battle against Missouri State

Saturday, October 27

Carbondale, IL

7 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

4-20, 0-11MVC

Missouri State University

12-12, 5-6MVC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Missouri State	25	25	22	25	3
Southern Illinois	15	21	25	18	1

Photo by: Madison Case

10/27/2018 | 10:31:00 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University volleyball team was edged out by visiting Missouri State (15-25, 21-25, 25-22, 18-25) in Missouri Valley Conference play Saturday, Oct. 27 inside Davies Gym.

How It Happened

• A kill by Lindsey Paulsen, follows by a double block by Paulsen and Alayna Martin tied the opening set, 6-all. Missouri State scored four of the next five points to build a 10-7 advantage. Southern scored back-to-back points to get to within one, 10-9 but the Lady Bears scored eight of the next eleven to take control. Southern again got to within seven on Paulsen's third kill, 22-15, but Missouri State put down three-straight kills to take the opening frame.
• Southern jumped out to an 8-5 lead in the second set on Martin's first kill of the match and forced Missouri State to use its first timeout. The Lady Bears used a 5-2 spurt to tie the frame, 10-all, and it remained tied until three-straight points by Missouri State gave the visitors a 15-12 advantage at the midway point. The Salukis got back into the set with Keera Clarke serving, as she served three-straight points to get SIU to within one, 18-17. Missouri State quickly rallied with four-straight points to gain breathing room at 22-17. SIU had one last push late in the frame to get to within two, 22-20, but a sideout point by the Lady Bears coupled with a Saluki attack error effectively gave Missouri State a 2-0 set lead.
• The Salukis nearly led for the entirety of the third set to force a fourth frame. SIU trailed only briefly at 6-5, and scored three of the next four points to build a 9-6 lead. The Lady Bears rallied on two occasions to tie the set, with the final time coming at 16-all, but SIU scored four-straight with Clarke at the service stripe to build a cushion it never relinquished. Southern hit .500 in the set, as the Salukis put down 16 kills on 30 swings with just one error.
• Paulsen's first kill of set four tied the frame, 5-all. The Lady Bears scored seven of the next eight points to build a six-point lead, 12-6. Missouri State's lead grew to seven, 16-9 before Alison Thomas served five-straight points to get SIU to within one, 16-15 and force Missouri State to burn a timeout. That was as close as the Salukis would get though, as the Lady Bears answered with four-straight points to put the set out of reach.

Inside the Match

• The Salukis recorded a season-high 13 blocks in the loss. It is the most in a Missouri Valley Conference match by the Salukis since Sept. 22, 2017 at Bradley when Southern also recorded 13.
• Lindsey Paulsen got the start in the middle and had a career night. The Frankfort, Ill. native set career-bests in kills (12), attempts (21), hitting percentage (.476) and blocks (9). Paulsen's nine blocks were the most by a Saluki since Patience Brown did so at Indiana State a year ago to the day (Oct. 27, 2017). Paulsen put down her first 10 kills before recording an error.
• Emma Baalman moved over to the right side and hit at a .409 clip. The Hardin, Ill. native put down a career-high nine kills on 22 swings without an error and also added three block assists.
• Alayna Martin notched her 11th double-double of the season, and 26th of her career. The junior setter dished out 35 assists to go along with 10 digs and three blocks.
• Kat Wagner added six kills and six digs. She also notched just her second career solo block and finished with a season-best four blocks for the match.
• Keera Clarke led SIU's defensive efforts with a team-high 15 digs. It marked the fifth time in her last six matches that the sophomore libero has reached double figures in digs.

Quotable

"Overall our serve and pass game wasn't strong enough. Our serve was good, at times, but we let them out of it with some key missed serves in certain sets. I really loved the production we got from Emma and Lindsey. Lindsey did a fantastic job on the block and offensively today. Overall really happy with how we blocked as a team." - SIU head coach Kari Thompson.

Up Next

The Salukis have a quick turnaround with their final Monday match of the season at Loyola on Oct. 29. First serve is set for 6 p.m.