Volleyball drops pair of matches Friday at Lumberjack Classic

Friday, September 7

Flagstaff, AZ

11:30 a.m.

Southern Illinois University

3-5

Northern Arizona University

6-2

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Southern Illinois	13	12	10	0
Northern Arizona	25	25	25	3

Photo by: Madison Case

09/07/2018 | 11:28:00 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

The Southern Illinois University volleyball team dropped a pair of matches on the first day of the Lumberjack Classic, hosted by Northern Arizona. The Salukis fell in three-sets (13-25, 12-25, 10-25) to the Lumberjacks in the opener and dropped a four-set decision (23-25, 25-20, 20-25, 20-25) to the CSUN Matadors in the nightcap.

Inside the Match: NAU

• NAU used a stout defense to limit the Salukis to a .000 hitting percentage in the opening frame as Southern's kills were equal to their attack errors (7). The Lumberjacks also sided-out at a 78% clip in the first set, taking advantage of SIU's miscues to build a double-digit lead that it never relinquished.
• Southern scored first in the second set but the Lumberjacks answered with four-straight points to open a three-point lead. The lead remained three until NAU used a 5-0 run before the halfway point to open an eight-point advantage at 15-7. From there, the Lumberjacks scored 10 of the next 15 points to take a 2-0 set score lead.
• The Lumberjacks used a 9-1 run to break a 4-all tie early in the third set to close out the set and the match.

Inside the Match CSUN

• The Salukis got out to a 13-7 lead on a kill by Alysa Sutton after a Matadors' timeout. CSUN scored seven of the next eight points to tie the set 14-all. From there, the Matadors maintained at least a two point lead until back-to-back kills by Sutton brought Southern back to within one, 24-23. The Matadors called timeout and got the side out they needed to take the first set.
• Southern bounced back in the second set with a wire-to-wire, 25-20 win. The Salukis held the Matadors to a .143 hitting percentage and tallied three blocks in the frame. Maggie Nedoma finished with four kills in the set while Paige Yoder and Patience Brown each had two.
• The two sides tussled for the lead throughout the first half of the third set, with CSUN clinging to a 15-14 lead at the media timeout. Yoder's first kill of the set three got SIU to within one, 16-15 but that was as close as they would get. The Matadors hit .394 in the frame.
• CSUN got out to a 5-1 start in the fourth set and never trailed from there. Southern got to within two on back-to-back aces by Alison Thomas, 21-19, but the Matadors scored four of the next five points to win the set and the match.

Inside the Numbers

• The Salukis tallied a season-best 12 blocks against CSUN and five different Salukis recorded at least one block. Patience Brown led the way with a solo block and seven block assists while Alayna Martin had a solo stuff and five block assists.
• Maggie Nedoma's streak of seven consecutive matches with 10-plus kills came to an end against NAU, but she picked right back up where she left off against the CSUN Matadors. Nedoma hit .273 and put down a team-best 16 kills on 33 swings and added five digs.
• Alysa Sutton finished with a season-best 12 kills against the Matadors, which marked the fifth-straight match she has played in and her most productive outing to date. She also notched season-bests in hitting percentage (.240) and attempts (25).
• Laura Rojas notched season-bests in both digs (14) and assists (4) in the four-set loss to the Matadors. It marked the second time this season that the Orlando, Fla. native has tallied 10-plus digs.
• Alison Thomas added three aces and three assists in the four-set loss to the Matadors. She has now doubled her season total for aces from a year ago and has a team-best 10 aces on the year.
• Paige Yoder made her collegiate debut at NAU and got on the stat sheet the following match against CSUN. She put down four kills on 14 attempts to go along with two blocks and two digs against the Matadors.
• Freshman Marissa Rossi finished with a career-best 11 assists in what was her fourth career match. Rossi notched the first three assists of her collegiate career in the third set against SEMO on Sept. 4.
• Alayna Martin recorded her fifth dig-assist double-double of the season against the Matadors. The junior setter dished out 34 assists and added 10 digs.

Up Next

The Salukis take on the No. 8 Florida Gators at 11 a.m. CST. It will mark the second-ever meeting between the two programs and the first since 1985.