Volleyball closes out road swing at Evansville/Indiana State

Friday, October 5

Evansville, IN

7 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

University of Evansville

Photo by: Madison Case

10/04/2018 | 8:49:00 | Women's Volleyball

Southern Illinois (4-13, 0-4 MVC) vs. Indiana State (7-10, 0-5 MVC)/Evansville (6-12, 0-5 MVC)
Date & Time	Oct. 5 at Evansville \| 7 p.m. CT Oct. 6 at Indiana State \| 7 p.m. CT
ESPN+	vs. Evansville vs. Indiana State
Live Stats	vs. Evansville vs. Indiana State
Southern Illinois	Game Notes (PDF) \| Stats \| Media Guide (PDF)
Evansville	Game Notes (PDF) \| Stats (PDF)
Indiana State	Game Notes (PDF)\| Stats \| Record Book (PDF)
MVC	Weekly Notes (PDF) \| Stats
All-Time Series	Overall: SIU leads Evansville, 44-12 \| Streak: Evansville W1 \| Last Meeting: Evansville 3-0 (30-28, 25-23, 25-13) Overall: SIU leads Indiana State, 52-18-1 \| Streak: SIU W1 \| Last Meeting: SIU 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-19)
Social Media	@SIU_Volleyball \| @SIUSalukis \| Saluki Volleyball

The Southern Illinois volleyball team travels to Indiana over the weekend to take on Indiana State and Evansville. The Salukis and the Purple Aces tangle on Friday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m., and Southern takes on the Sycamores on Saturday, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+.

All-time vs. Evansville

The Salukis hold a 44-12 advantage in the all-time series versus the Purple Aces. The two teams split the season series last year and Evansville snapped an 11-match losing streak with a three-set win on Oct. 28. SIU is 16-9 all-time at Evansville and have won five of the last six meetings on the Purple Aces' home court.

Scouting the Purple Aces

The Purple Aces have lost eight-straight and 10 of their last 11 coming into Friday night's matchup. Evansville is led by returnees Rachel Tam and Mildrelis Rodriguez, who currently rank 1-2 in the MVC in attempts per set. Tam leads the team, and ranks 20th nationally, with a 4.38 kills per set average while Rodriquez is averaging 3.04 kills/set.

All-time vs. Indiana State

The Salukis hold a commanding 51-19-1 all-time record over the Sycamores and have won five of their last six against Indiana State. The two teams split the series a year ago, with the Sycamores win on Sept. 30, 2017 marking their first victory in the series since 2014. In all, SIU holds a 22-8 record at Indiana State.

Scouting the Sycamores

The Sycamores have lost five-straight to open Valley play and are losers of seven of their last eight games. Senior Laura Gross currently leads the Sycamores attack with 3.06 kills per set and is second on the team with 3.75 digs per set while Jade York leads the defensive efforts with a 4.27 digs per set average.

Leading the way

Maggie Nedoma already has more kills (208) through 17 matches this season as she had all of her freshmen year (200) and she put down her 400th career kill against Valparaiso on Sept. 24. Nedoma also recorded her 12th double-digit kill output of the season against the Crusaders with a team-best 12 kills and she has now led or tied for the team-lead in kills in 15 of SIU's 17 matches this season. With two swings against Evansville, Nedoma will set a personal-best in attempts.

Top-5 in the league

Nedoma ranks fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference in kills per set (3.47/set), points (230.0) and total kills (208).

Serving up aces

Alison Thomas has served 13 aces this season- tied with Alayna Martin for most on the team while her 0.25 aces per set average is seventh-best in the MVC. Thomas finished with a career-best four aces in SIU's win over Alabama A&M on Oct. 31, which is tied with several others, including Southern's Keera Clarke, for the most in a match by a MVC school this season. Southern's nine aces against Alabama A&M are tied for the most in a three-set match in the Valley this season.

Big Block

Emma Baalman set a career-high with eight blocks against Valparaiso on Sept. 24. Baalman's eight blocks are the second-most in a three-set match in the Valley this season, while her eight blocks were the most in a three-set match by a Saluki since Meg Viggars recorded eighth in a three-set win over Evansville on Nov. 15, 2013.

Climbing up the list

Alayna Martin dished out 18 assists against Missouri State which gives her 1,217 for her career. Martin became the 16th Saluki with 1,200-plus career assists and she is 14 shy of passing Teri Schultehenrich (1985-89) for 15th on SIU's all-time assists list.