Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
University of Evansville
Salukis open five-match homestand against Evansville, Indiana State
10/16/2019 | 5:14:00 | Women's Volleyball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University volleyball team returns home to Davies Gym to host the Evansville Purple Aces on Friday, Oct. 18 at 6 p.m. before taking on the Indiana State Sycamores on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 5 p.m.
Promotions
• Friday's match marks the Saluki swimming and diving team's annual Saluki Strip. The Salukis wear 25 articles of clothing and take one off for each point that SIU scores in a set in the hopes of being in just their speedos/swim suits when the Salukis win each set.
All-time vs. Indiana State
• The Salukis hold a commanding 52-20-1 all-time record over the Sycamores.
• Southern has won six of their last seven at home against Indiana State.
• The two sides split last season's series, which included SIU's four-set win on Nov. 1
All-time vs. Evansville
• The Salukis hold a 44-14 advantage in the all-time series versus the Purple Aces.
• Evansville has now won three in a row over SIU after snapping an 11-match losing streak to the Salukis at the end of the 2017 season.
• SIU had won 11-straight over Evansville on its home floor prior to last season's loss and is 27-4 all-time at Davies Gym vs. the Purple Aces.
Leading the Nation
• Rachel Maguire leads the nation in triple-doubles with nine.
• She recorded her ninth triple-double of the season in SIU's four-set win over Drake on Oct. 4 with 10 kills, 18 assists and 12 digs.
• Her nine triple-doubles are not only the most by a Missouri Valley Conference player since at least 2015, but are the third-most in a single-season in the NCAA over at least the past five seasons.
Triple Doubles, NCAA - Last 5 seasons
Taylor Smith, Eastern Illinois (2017) - 10
Jo-Leigh Vervelde, Western Colorado (2015) - 10
Rachel Maguire, SIU (2019) - 9
Elyssa Purcell, Southeastern La. (2016) - 8
Taylor Smith, EIU (2016) - 8
Corinne Bain, Harvard (2016) - 8
Adrianna Culbert, Colorado St. (2015) - 8
Corinne Bain, Harvard (2015) - 8
Career Record in Reach
•Rachel Maguire's next triple-double will tie her with Meg Viggars (10) for the most triple-doubles in a career in school history.
•Maguire and Viggars are two of the four Salukis in program history with multiple triple-doubles in a career.
Career Record, Triple-Doubles
Meg Viggars - 10
Rachel Maguire - 9
Dana Olden - 5
Sonya Locke - 2
Eclipsed the 1,000 mark
• The Salukis notched their 1,000 dig of the season in the four-set win over Western Illinois on Sept. 21.
• Southern ranks first nationally in total digs with 1,437 and is 19th in the nation with a 17.31 digs per set average.
• Five Salukis have already reached the century mark for digs - Laura Rojas (354), Alayna Martin (246), Rachel Maguire (218), Katy Kluge (188) and Abi Fitzpatrick (123).
Piloting the offense
• With her third assist of the match against Valparaiso, Alayna Martin became the 12th Saluki to reach the 2,000 career assist plateau.
• She is the first Saluki since 2016 to reach the milestone.
• The Chesterfield, Mo. native has tallied 15 assist-dig double-doubles this season, including a streak of nine-straight matches with double-digit assists and digs. She also posted the first triple-double of her career in the loss to IUPUI.
• The senior setter/hitter came into the 2019 season with 15 assist-dig double-doubles in 69 career matches.
• Martin's 30 career assist-dig double-doubles are 10th on SIU's all-time list.
Reaching a milestone of her own
• Abi Fitzpatrick averaged a team-best 4.14 digs and .28 aces per set for the Salukis last weekend. The freshman defensive specialist tallied a career-high 19 digs and added an ace against first-place Loyola and followed with 10 digs and an ace at Valparaiso.
• In doing so, she became the first Saluki freshman since 2017 to reach the century mark in total digs.
Keeping the ball off the floor
• SIU tallied 115 digs in its five-set win over Bradley on Sept. 27, which were its most digs in a match in the 25-point rally scoring era and its most in a match of any length since 1990.
• It also marked the second time this season that the Salukis have notched a top-10 school mark for digs in a match.
5-Setters Aplenty
• The Salukis are one of 18 teams nationally to have played in seven or more five-set matches this season.
•SIU has the second-best winning percentage (.714) of the 18 teams to have played in seven or more five-setters this season.
•Southern is tied with Central Arkansas for third nationally in five sets wins, as only Houston (6) and Sacramento State (6) have more.
•SIU is one of two Valley schools to have played in seven five-setters this season. Illinois State is 3-4 in 5-set matches this season.
•The school record for most five-set matches in one season is 11, set during the 1982 season when Southern played 36 matches.
•The Salukis are 129-110 (.539) all-time in five set matches since 1976.
MVC Five-Set Wins in a single-season since 2016
Missouri State (2016) - 7
Loyola (2016) - 6
SIU (2016) - 6
Evansville (2017) - 6
SIU (2019) - 5
Missouri State (2017) - 5
Bradley (2018) - 5
Evansville (2018) - 5
Valparaiso (2018) - 5
Evansville (2019) - 4
Hitting for a high efficiency in the middle
• Emma Baalman ranks third in the MVC with a .298 hitting % while Lindsey Paulsen is 10th at .263.
• SIU, Drake and Bradley all have two players ranked in the top-10 of the league in hitting percentage.
• Baalman has recorded two or fewer hitting errors in 13 of the 16 matches that she has played in, including six with just one error. She has hit .300 or better in 10 matches this season, including five matches in which she has hit over .400.
