Volleyball returns home to host Bulldogs, Panthers

Friday, October 4

Carbondale, Ill.

6 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

Drake University

Photo by: Tom Weber

10/02/2019 | 4:48:00 | Women's Volleyball

Match Notes vs. Drake/UNI Watch vs. Drake Watch vs. UNI Live Stats

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

The Southern Illinois University volleyball team returns to Davies Gym for a pair of Missouri Valley Conference matches this weekend. The Salukis host the Drake Bulldogs on Friday, Oct. 4 at 6 p.m. before taking on the UNI Panthers on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 5 p.m. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN3/ESPN+.

Promotions

• Friday night is "Dig for Donuts" with the first 100 fans receiving free donuts!
• Saturday is SIU's Strong Survivors Night with all cancer patients and survivors receiving free admission.

All-time vs. Drake

• SIU holds a 43-22 advantage in the all-time series.
• The Bulldogs swept the season series from the Salukis last year for the first time since 2010. It was also Drake's first win at Davies Gym since 2010.
• The Salukis are 24-9 all-time on their home floor against the Bulldogs and have won seven of the last eight meetings between the two schools in Carbondale.
• SIU's last win over Drake: Nov. 11, 2017 (3-2 win)

All-time vs. UNI

• The Panthers hold a commanding 57-13 lead over the Salukis in an all-time series that dates back to 1982.
• Northern Iowa has won five-straight over SIU, with Southern's last win coming in a five-set thriller in Davies Gym on Sept. 23, 2016.
• In fact, 8 of SIU's 13 all-time wins over UNI have come on its home floor.
• SIU's last win over UNI: Sept. 23, 2016 (3-2 win)

Leading the Nation

• Rachel Maguire leads the nation in triple-doubles with eight. She recorded her eighth triple-double of the season in SIU's five-set win over Bradley last Friday with a career-high 17 kills, 24 assists and 17 digs.
• Maguire's eight triple-doubles are not only the most by a Missouri Valley Conference player since at least 2015, but are tied for 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) - 8
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

Keeping the ball off the floor

• SIU tallied 115 digs in its five-set win over Bradley last Friday and six Salukis notched double-digit digs.
• It was the sixth-most digs in a match in program history and Southern's most digs in a match since 1990.
• It was the second time this season that the Salukis have notched a top-10 school mark for digs in a match.

Digs in a single-match, SIU history
161   Alabama (9/8/90)
142   Illinois State (9/21/84)
133   Eastern Illinois (11/9/89)
125   Illinois (10/8/85)
124   Idaho (9/13/86)
115   Bradley (9/27/19)
113   Kansas (10/10/87)
112   Bradley (10/2/94)
111   Murray State (9/8/07)
110   IUPUI (9/13/19)

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 1,182 and is 17th in the nation with a 17.13 digs per set average.
•Four Salukis have already reached the century mark for digs - Laura Rojas (295), Alayna Martin (205), Rachel Maguire (187) and Katy Kluge (159).
•SIU's 115 digs in its five-set win over Bradley are the most in a five-set match in NCAA DI volleyball this season and are the third-most in a NCAA DI match, of any length, this season.

5-Setters Aplenty

• The Salukis are one of 10 teams nationally to have played in seven five-set matches already this season.
• SIU has the best winning percentage (.714) and most wins (5) of the 10 teams to have played in seven five-setters this season.
• Southern is tied with Oklahoma (5) and Western Michigan (5) for the most five-set wins nationally.
• The Salukis rank sixth nationally for winning percentage (.714) in five setters (minimum five five-setters).
• SIU is one of four Valley schools to have played in five-plus five-set matches and the only one with a winning record in those matches.
• Southern's five wins in five-set matches make up one-third of the MVC's five-set wins this season. Evansville (3) is the only other program with more than two five-set wins.

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

Don't throw in the towel

•Seven of SIU's last 10 matches have gone to five sets, including a school-record streak of five-straight matches.
•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.

Winning Non-Conference Record

•Southern went 8-6 during the non-conference portion of its schedule.
• It marked the first winning record through non-conference play for SIU since 2016.
•The Salukis' three-match win streak was snapped with the loss to Illinois State- it was SIU's longest-win streak since 2016.

Valley Debut

• SIU's win over Bradley on Friday, Sept. 27 gave head coach Ed Allen a win in his MVC debut.
• Southern improved to 6-0 all-time in conference openers under first-year head coaches.

As She Goes, We Go

• Savannah Sheridan put down a career-high 18 kills in SIU's win over Tennessee Tech on Sept. 21.
• Sheridan, who did not play volleyball last year after sitting out a year, has put down 10-or more kills in eight matches this season, including a streak of four-straight matches from Sept. 6-10.
• The Salukis are 7-1 this season when Sheridan tallies 10-plus kills.

Hitting for a high efficiency in the middle

• Both Emma Baalman and Lindsey Paulsen rank in the top-10 of the MVC in hitting percentage.
• Baalman ranks fourth with a .317 hitting % while Paulsen is 10th at .260.
• The Salukis join Bradley and Drake as the only programs with two hitters ranked in the top-10 of the league in hitting percentage.

Piloting the offense

• Alayna Martin has tallied 13 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.
• Martin's 28 career assist-dig double-doubles are tied with Deb Heyne for 10th on SIU's all-time list.
• Martin has tallied double-digit swings in nine-straight matches.
• Martin's 63 kills in 16 matches this season are more than she had in 69 career matches (47) coming into this season.

Leading the back row

• Laura Rojas has dug out at least 10 balls in 14 of SIU's 16 matches this season, including her first career assist-dig double-double with 28 digs and 13 assists in Southern's win over Bradley on Sept. 27.
• Her 14 matches with double-digit digs has more than doubled her total from last season. Rojas had 10-plus digs in six matches in her first season as a Saluki.
• The Orlando, Fl. native has dug out 20-plus balls in seven matches this season.

Serving Tough

• Katy Kluge leads the Salukis with 21 service aces and a .32 aces per set average. She also currently ranks 10th in the MVC in aces per set.
• Kluge has recorded at least one ace in 11 of SIU's 16 matches this season, including a career-high four in SIU's win over Alabama State on Sept. 14. In five of those 11 matches, the sophomore defensive specialist has tallied multiple aces.
• The Oconomowoc, Wis. native has been a steady presence in the back row for the Salukis and has notched double-digit digs in 12 of SIU's 16 matches this season.

Career Night

• Hannah Becker had a career night in the win over Bradley on Sept. 27.
• Becker tallied career-highs in kills (18), hitting percentage (.383), attempts (47) and digs (5).
• It was the fourth time this season that Becker has put down double-digit kills.