Volleyball hosts Bradley, Illinois State to open Valley play

Friday, September 21

Carbondale, IL

7 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

Bradley University

09/19/2018 | 11:28:00 | Women's Volleyball

Illinois State/Bradley match notes

The Southern Illinois University volleyball team returns to Davies Gym this weekend to host Bradley and Illinois State for its Missouri Valley Conference opener. The Salukis open against the Braves on Friday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. and takes on the Redbirds on Saturday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m.

All-Time vs. the Braves

The Braves and the Salukis will meet for the 65th time Friday in a series that dates back to 1975. SIU leads the all-time series, 45-19 and Southern has a 24-9 record on their home floor. Last season, the Braves defeated the Salukis in five-sets to post their first win in the series since 2013.

Scouting the Braves

The Braves have won four-straight and nine of their last ten matches and have won their most non-conference matches (10) since 1988 when the Gateway Conference only scheduled nine non-conference matches a season. Bradley is currently leads the conference, and is ranked eighth nationally, in digs per set (18.13/set) and are holding opponents to a .141 hitting percentage, which is the 12th-best mark nationally. Leading the way for the Braves is Erica Haslag, who is the reigning MVC Player of the Week and ranks third in the MVC in kills per set at 3.78.

All-Time vs. Illinois State

The Salukis and the Redbirds will meet for the 87th time in a series that dates back to 1975. Illinois State holds a commanding 73-12-1 lead in the all-time series, which includes a 45-8-1 all-time record vs. the Salukis in Carbondale. SIU has however won two of the last three against ISU on its home floor. Last season, the Redbirds swept the season series from the Salukis for the first time since 2014 and have won three-straight over Southern.

Scouting the Redbirds

The Redbirds come into Davies having lost two in a row to ranked opponents. The Redbirds took a set off of No. 6 Wisconsin before being swept by No. 21 Marquette. Three of Illinois State's four losses this year have come against ranked opponents and all four losses have come against Power 5 Conference opponents. The Redbirds are second in the league in hitting percentage (.235) and Marissa Stockman leads the way with a Valley-best .395 hitting percentage. Defensively, Illinois State is led by reigning MVC Defensive Player of the Year Courtney Pence, who leads the Valley, and ranks 18th nationally, with a 5.50 digs per set average.

Conference Openers

The Salukis hold a 13-13 record in conference openers since the Valley began prior to the 1992 season. Southern has won five of its last six conference openers, including last season's four-set win over Bradley to open Valley play.

Hitting at a high mark

Senior middle Patience Brown was named to the A-State Invitational All-Tournament team after hitting at a .379 clip and averaging 2.67 kills per set. She was particularly efficient in SIU's sweep of Jackson State, as she set a new career-high by hitting at an .800 clip in the win. The Bloomington, Ill. native put down eight kills on 10 swings without an error. It was the best that a Saluki has hit in a match since Alex Rosignol hit .818 (9-0-11) against Northern Colorado on Aug. 28, 2015.

Defense at a premium

The Salukis held the Jackson State Tigers to a -.020 hitting percentage in their 3-0 win. It marked the first time that SIU has held an opponent to a negative hitting percentage since SIU held South Florida to a -.053 hitting percentage on Sept. 11, 2011.

Nedoma continues to shine

Maggie Nedoma has been on a tear to open the 2018 season. The sophomore opposite hitter earned three-straight All-Tournament team nods to open the season and currently ranks fourth in the MVC in kills per set (3.65/set). The Brook Park, Ohio native has led the Salukis in kills in 12 of SIU's 13 matches this season and her 175 total kills are the most by an underclassmen in the Valley thus far this season. Nedoma is just 26 kills shy of surpassing her freshman year total of 200.

Double-Doubles

Alayna Martin leads the Salukis with seven assist-dig double-doubles this season from her setter position and now has 18 double-doubles for her career which is the 16th-most in program history. Marissa Rossi recorded her first career double-double against Arkansas State on Sept. 14 and set career-bests in both assists (12) and digs (15) while Maggie Nedoma has tallied the first two kill-dig double-doubles of her career this season.

Back-to-back career-bests

Keera Clarke took over the libero position at the A-State Invitational and averaged a team-high 3.63 digs/set. The sophomore from Santa Monica, Calif. opened with a career-best four aces against Jackson State before notching 16 digs against both Arkansas State and Central Arkansas.

Back Row Help

Kat Wagner gave Southern's back row defense a boost at the A-State Invitational, which included back-to-back 10-plus dig efforts. Wagner tallied 11 digs against Arkansas State and followed with a career-best 18 digs vs. Central Arkansas. The freshman from Noblesville, Ind. has finished with 10-or more digs in six matches this season.

More back row defense

Alysa Sutton also helped shore up Southern's defensive efforts at the A-State Invitational, as she joined Wagner with double-digit digs against Arkansas State (12) and Central Arkansas (16). Her 16 digs against the Sugar Bears was a new career-best.