Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
11-12,4-5MVC
Missouri State University
5-18,3-6MVC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri St. | 19 | 25 | 23 | 25 | 13 | 2 |
| Southern Ill. | 25 | 19 | 25 | 22 | 15 | 3 |
Salukis win five-set thriller over Bears
10/21/2019 | 10:59:00 | Women's Volleyball
The win marked SIU's first victory over Missouri State since 2016.
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University volleyball team outlasted Missouri Valley Conference foe Missouri State in a five-set thriller, defeating the Bears by the set scores of 25-19, 19-25, 25-23, 22-25, 15-13, Monday night inside Davies Gym.
The win for the injury-depleted Salukis (11-12, 3-6 MVC) snapped a five-match losing skid and gave Southern its first win over Missouri State since 2016.
"If you look at the last two weeks- the injuries that we've had and the way we've played- that's enough to squash a team," said first-year head coach Ed Allen. "They are upbeat, they work hard on the floor and they maintain a positive attitude in the huddle, even when things are bad. I'm really pleased with them and their ability to control the things that are completely controllable and attitudes are completely controllable. They are approaching things like winners."
The outcome of Monday night's match hung in the balance for it's entirety, as momentum swung back and forth like a metronome. Southern struck first with a decisive 25-19 win in the opening frame, only to see Missouri State rally late in set two to knot up the match at 1-all. The Salukis showed their resolve in the third frame, as they pulled out a 25-23 win in a set that featured 15 ties and five lead changes. The Bears, however, answered with a 25-22 set four win, as they capitalized on SIU's five service errors to force a decisive fifth set.
Prior to the fifth set, Coach Allen and his staff spun the dial, as they flipped SIU's rotation in order to have Hannah Becker hit three full rotations in the front row and, thus, didn't have to wait four rotations for her to get to the left front position.
"We started Hannah in the fifth position so that she could play all three rotations across the front row," Allen said. "She came back through the front row another time and both times her presence there was huge for us."
The move paid off- Becker, who was celebrating her 21st birthday Monday, put down five of SIU's nine kills in the fifth set, which included three-straight kills that turned a 6-5 deficit into a 7-6 lead and gave Southern the lead for good.
Becker hit at a .362 clip and tied her career-best with 19 kills on 47 swings with just two errors. She was one of three Salukis to finish with double-digit kills, as Savannah Sheridan added 15 kills and three blocks and Rachel Maguire was two digs shy of her 10th triple-double. The junior from Bloomington, Ill. tallied 10 kills, 20 assists, eight digs and three aces.
Southern remained in system throughout the match thanks, in part, to libero Laura Rojas' return to the starting lineup. Rojas, who had missed the last three matches with injury, finished with a team-best 16 digs and chipped in five assists and a kill.
"It was good having Laura back," Allen said. "Laura made a big difference for us on the floor. Her being gone the last three matches made our play chaotic. Just having that stability back on the floor was one of the biggest differences and it translated into none of our hitters hitting for a negative percentage."
Alayna Martin notched her 17th assist-dig double-double of the season, as she tallied 32 assists and 15 digs. Katy Kluge chipped in 13 digs, while Emma Baalman added six kills, six digs and tied her career-best with three aces to go along with a team-high four blocks.
The Salukis close out their five-match homestand this weekend with a pair of MVC contests. Southern hosts Illinois State on Friday at 6 p.m. before taking on Bradley on Saturday at 5 p.m.
