Volleyball drops Saturday match to Illinois State

Saturday, September 22

Carbondale, IL

7 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

4-11, 0-2MVC

Illinois State University

10-4, 2-0MVC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Illinois State	25	25	25	3
Southern Illinois	22	18	12	0

Photo by: Madison Case

09/22/2018 | 10:01:00 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University volleyball team came up short in three close sets Saturday evening at Davies Gym against Illinois State (25-22, 25-18, 25-12).

Inside the Match

• The Salukis led by three after a kill by Maggie Nedoma made it 8-5. The Redbirds scored four-straight points to take a one-point lead, 9-8. Neither team led by more than two for much of the first set, as a kill by Rachel Maguire tied the frame for the ninth time at 21-all. The Redbirds scored four of the next five points to take the opener.
• A solo block by Malvis Ortiz staked SIU to a 5-4 lead in the second set. The Redbirds answered with a 6-1 spurt to take a 10-6 advantage. A kill by Maguire cut the deficit down to one, 13-12, but that was as close as Southern could get as the Redbirds went ahead 2-0.
• An 8-0 run by the Redbirds prior to the midway point of the third set gave the visitors a nine-point lead at 12-3. Back-to-back kills by Ortiz coupled with a Redbird error got SIU to within five, 13-8, but Illinois State scored seven of the next eight to build a commanding lead.

Inside the Numbers

• SIU was limited to just 31 kills on .106 hitting, while Illinois State (10-4, 2-0) posted 47 kills on .283 hitting over the three sets.
• Maggie Nedoma led the Salukis with nine kills and added two blocks and two digs. It marked the 13th time in 15 matches this season that the sophomore opposite hitter has led the Salukis in kills.
• Junior setter Alayna Martin handed out 28 assists to go along with nine digs and an ace.
• Sophomore libero Alison Thomas tallied 16 digs to lead the Salukis' back-row play, while freshman outside hitter Kat Wager posted nine digs.
• The Salukis were at their best offensively when attacking from the middle. Emma Baalman and Patience Brown combined to hit at a .346 clip. Baalman finished with four kills and two blocks while Brown had six kills, an ace and two blocks on her birthday.

Quotable

Kari Thompson
on Saturday's match
"In the first two sets and even in the beginning of the third we battled back and forth with (Illinois State) and played some really good defense. Then we let them in the first and the second sets go on two really big runs at two different times that we need to pass better in those situations. I thought our serve was really aggressive to set up our defense. But down the stretch, especially after point 20, you have to be good defensively, and our serve receive definitely gave up points that we shouldn't of. They are a good team and we knew they weren't going to give us many points."

Up Next

The Salukis are on short rest as they travel to Valparaiso on Monday, Sept. 24 to take on the Crusaders. First serve is set for 6 p.m.