Salukis showcase depth in exhibition match against Panthers

Saturday, August 18

5 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

Eastern Illinois University

Photo by: Michael Black

08/18/2018 | 10:11:00 | Women's Volleyball

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois volleyball team played 15 different players in its lone exhibition match of the 2018 season, a 3-0 loss at the hands of the Eastern Illinois Panthers on Saturday, August 18

How it happened

* Set one was tied 5-5 before an 8-1 run by the Panthers opened up a 13-6 lead. Back-to-back blocks got SIU to within five, 20-15, but that was as close as the Salukis could get. Panthers took the opening frame, 25-17.
* Southern played eight different players in the opening set- rotating Patience Brown and Emma Baalman in the middle and utilizing Laura Rojas as the libero.
* The Salukis changed their lineup significantly in set two, as freshmen Katy Kluge and Jill Kavalauskas rotated in and Alison Thomas was the libero.
* SIU was at its best in the second frame when setting the middle hitter- Baalman and Brown combined to hit .545 with seven kills to just one error.
* A string of errors put the Salukis in a hole early in set two but Southern got to within three, 11-8, as Marissa Rossi and Rachel Maguire each found Baalman for a kill. A kill by Nedoma again cut the deficit to three (13-10) but the Panthers continued to capitalize on Southern's miscues to take the frame, 25-16.
* Baalman's first kill of set three gave SIU a 5-4 lead. Jordyn McVicar put down her first kill of the night to keep Southern ahead, 6-5, and a kill by Lindsey Paulsen gave SIU a 12-10 advantage. Southern continued to battle throughout the set and neither team led by more than four before an error on set point handed the Panthers a 25-21 set three win.

Inside the match

* Both teams used the exhibition as an opportunity to mix up their lineups, with Southern using 15 different players while Eastern utilized 14.
* Nine Salukis recorded at least one kill and 12 notched at least one dig.
* Maggie Nedoma was nearly unstoppable to open the match. She hit .500 in set one with six kills and no errors and put down a total of nine kills before she tallied her first error. She scored the first set's opening two points for the Salukis on emphatic kills and tallied three of the SIU's first five points to open the frame.
* Nedoma paced the offense with a team-high 12 kills. She also added two service aces and nine digs.
* Middle hitter Emma Baalman took advantage of her opportunities, as hit an efficient .533. She put down nine kills on 15 swings with just one error.
* Southern showed multiple different looks offensively, as it came out in set one running a 5-1 with Alayna Martin handling the setting duties. In set two, SIU went to a 6-2, with both Martin and Rachel Maguire in the lineup. In the final set, freshman Marissa Rossi entered alongside Maguire and dished out three assists to go along with two digs while Martin led the way with 15 assists and Maguire chipped in 11.
* Freshman Kat Wagner played in all three sets and led the team defensively with 13 digs.
* Sophomore Rachel Maguire showcased her versatility - she hit from the outside as well as set. Maguire took eight swings in set three and put down Southern's first point in the frame on a set from Martin.
* Lindsey Paulsen continues her journey back from an injury that wiped out her sophomore season. She rotated in at middle in the third set and added a kill and a block assist.
* Southern combined for 5 blocks with Baalman's three block assists the most on the team.