Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
10-11,4-3MVC
University of Evansville
13-5,5-2MVC
Salukis battle but fall to Purple Aces
10/18/2019 | 9:05:00 | Women's Volleyball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University volleyball team dropped a three-set decision (25-27, 27-29, 18-25) to the Evansville Purple Aces Friday night inside Davies Gym.
The Salukis were playing without starting libero Laura Rojas due to injury and have now had nine different players injured at various times this season, including freshmen outside hitters Alex Washington and Bailey Neuberger.
"First ball contacts have to be better- we have got to have opportunities for our hitters," said first-year head coach Ed Allen. "We need our libero. We have had nine players miss matches during the course of the season out of the 16 players on our roster."
The banged-up Salukis (10-11, 2-5 MVC) battled with the Purple Aces throughout the match, as both of the first two sets went extra frames. Evansville, however, came out on the winning end of both sets to take all of the momentum away from SIU, who was playing in front of a raucous crowd thanks in large part to the Saluki swimming and diving team's annual Saluki Strip.
Southern couldn't regroup after dropping two tough sets to open the match, as they fell behind 6-1 in the third set and never could quite come all the way back despite a valiant effort. The Salukis trailed by as many as 11 but got to within three late before the Purple Aces put the match away for good.
The Salukis were led offensively by Hannah Becker, who put down 12 kills for her seventh double-digit kill output of the season. Rachel Maguire finished a kill shy of her 10th triple-double, as she tallied nine kills, 18 assists and 12 digs. Emma Baalman hit .538 with eight kills and just one error. Defensively, she totaled six blocks, including a solo stuff.
In the back row, SIU was led by Katy Kluge, who finished with 17 digs in her first career start at libero. Maguire dug out 12 balls while Kat Wagner notched her second-straight double-digit dig effort with 10 digs.
The Salukis are back in action tomorrow when they host the Indiana State Sycamores. First serve is set for 5 p.m.
