Salukis host Illinois State/Bradley to open second half of MVC play

Friday, October 25

Carbondale, Ill.

6 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

Illinois State University

Salukis host Illinois State/Bradley to open second half of MVC play

10/23/2019 | 4:34:00 | Women's Volleyball

Game Notes vs. Illinois State/Bradley

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois University volleyball team opens the second half of Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend with a pair of matches inside Davies Gym. The Salukis host the Illinois State Redbirds on Friday at 6 p.m. before taking on the Bradley Braves on Saturday at 5 p.m.

All-Time vs. Illinois State

• The Salukis and the Redbirds will meet for the 90th time Friday in a series that dates back to 1975.
• Illinois State holds a commanding 76-12-1 lead in the all-time series, which includes a 37-6-1 all-time record vs. the Salukis in Carbondale.
• Southern's last home win over Illinois State came on Oct. 8, 2016.
• The Redbirds have won five-straight in the series, including a 3-0 sweep of the Salukis on Sept. 28.

All-Time vs. the Braves

• The Braves and the Salukis will meet for the 68th time Saturday in a series that dates back to 1975.
• SIU leads the all-time series, 46-21, which includes a 22-10 record against Bradley in Carbondale.
• The Braves, however, have won the last two meetings between the two schools in Davies Gym with Southern's last home win over Bradley coming on Oct. 29, 2016.
• SIU is going for its first season sweep of Bradley since the 2016 season.

5-Setters Aplenty

• The Salukis are one of seven teams nationally to have played in nine or more five-set matches this season.
• SIU has the best winning percentage (.667) of the seven teams to have played in nine or more five-setters this season.
• Southern is tied for second nationally with Oklahoma and Sacramento State in five set wins, as only Houston (7) has more.
• SIU is one of six Valley schools to have played in five-plus five-set matches this season.

MVC Five-Set Wins in a single-season since 2016
Missouri State (2016) - 7
SIU (2019) - 6
SIU (2016) - 6
Loyola (2016) - 6
Evansville (2017) - 6
Missouri State (2017) - 5
Bradley (2018) - 5
Evansville (2018) - 5
Valparaiso (2018) - 5
Evansville (2019) - 4

Don't throw in the towel

• SIU's last two matches have gone to five sets, and Southern broke the school-record earlier this season for longest streak of five-set matches (5).
•The school record for most five-set matches in one season is 11, set during the 1982 season when Southern played 36 matches.
• Southern's nine five-set matches are tied for their most since 2015 and are tied for the third-most in a single-season in program history. SIU's six five-set wins are tied for the third-most in program history.
•The Salukis are 130-111 (.539) all-time in five set matches since 1976.

Magic Number is 8 (MVC Tournament picture)

• Southern is currently tied with Valparaiso for the sixth seed in the conference tournament in what will no doubt be a tight race down the stretch.
• Since the MVC went to its 18-match format for conference play in 1996, only seven times in 23 years has the sixth seed entered the tournament with a winning record in conference play. Loyola is the most recent to do so, having accomplished the feat in back-to-back seasons in 2015 and 2016.
• The average wins for the sixth seed since 1996 is close to eight conference wins (7.87 to be exact).
• No team with a .500 record has ever missed the MVC Tournament and only three times in 23 years has a team with eight wins stayed home- SIU in 1997, Drake in 2016 and Loyola in 2018.
• Three times in 23 years a team with six wins moved on to the conference tourney - Indiana State has done so twice, most recently in 2011.
• Both times that SIU has been the sixth seed during that time frame they have done so with a 7-11 record, most recently in 2009.
• The fewest conference wins to advance to the MVC Tournament in that stretch was five in 1996 when the Bradley Braves went 5-13 in conference play.
• The most conference wins as the sixth seed belongs to the 2002 Illinois State Redbirds, who went 11-7 and were one of three MVC teams that season to go 11-7.

Serving up aces

• SIU served up nine aces in its five-set match against Indiana State on Oct. 19, which was its second-most in a MVC match this season.
• The Salukis have 133 aces through 23 matches- which is already their most aces in a season since 2016.
• Katy Kluge's 28 aces are the most by a Saluki since Andrea Estrada in 2016.

Welcome back

• Laura Rojas returned to the starting lineup in SIU's win over Missouri State after missing the previous three matches with an injury.
• The Orlando, Fla. native tallied a team-best 16 digs to go along with five assists and a kill, which was her first kill since Sept. 6, 2019.
• It marked the 18th time this season that the senior libero has notched double-digit digs. Rojas has more 20-plus dig outputs (8) this season than she had 10-plus digs matches (6) all of last season.

Good Distribution

• Southern currently has six players with 100-plus kills on the season and a seventh, Alayna Martin, is nine kills shy of 100.
• Southern has only had three seasons dating back to 1980 (1985, 1997, 2016) in which seven or more players hit the century mark for kills in a single-season.
• The school record for most players with a 100-plus kills in a single-season is eight, set in 1997.
• Hannah Becker, meanwhile, is two kills shy of 200 and will become the third Saluki (Savannah Sheridan, Rachel Maguire) to reach the 200-kill plateau this season.
• When Becker reaches the club, it will mark the eight time in the last nine seasons that Southern has had at least three hitters reach 200 kills.

Leading the Nation

•Rachel Maguire leads the nation in triple-doubles with nine.
•She nearly recorded her 10th triple-double of the season in the win over Missouri State on Monday, as she tallied 10 kills, 20 assists and eight 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.

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.

Eclipsed the 1,500 mark

•The Salukis notched their 1,500 dig of the season against Evansville on Oct. 18.
•Southern ranks first nationally in total digs with 1,650 and is 21st in the nation with a 17.19 digs per set average.
•Five Salukis have already reached the century mark for digs - Laura Rojas (370), Alayna Martin (280), Rachel Maguire (258), Katy Kluge (239) and Abi Fitzpatrick (148).

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 18 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 has an outside chance of becoming the 12th Saluki to reach the 1,000 digs club. The senior setter is 135 digs shy and would need to average 15 digs per match from here on out to reach the milestone.

Reaching a milestone of her own

•Abi Fitzpatrick dug out seven balls in SIU's win over Missouri State and is the first Saluki freshman since 2017 to reach the century mark in total digs.
• Fitzpatrick has also served at least one ace in 13 of the 14 matches she's played in, including three in SIU's wins over Tennessee Tech (Sept. 21) and Drake (Oct. 4).

Unsung Hero

• Hannah Becker has played all three front row positions this season and has had a career year.
• The Polk City, Iowa native has put down double-digit kills in nine matches this season, including a career-high tying 19 kills on her 21st birthday in SIU's five set win over Missouri State on Monday.
• Becker hit .362 in the win over the Bears, which marked the sixth time this season in which she has hit .300 or better.

Serving Middle

• Emma Baalman has been SIU's serving middle this season and is third on the team with 20 aces. She tied her career-best with three aces in SIU's five-set win over Missouri State on Monday.
• The redshirt junior entered this season with just three aces in 42 career matches.

Connecting with the middles

• Both of Southern's middles, Emma Baalman and Lindsey Paulsen rank in the top-10 in the MVC in hitting percentage.
• Baalman is hitting at a .286 clip and ranks fifth while Paulsen sits at 10th with a .263 hitting percentage.

As She Goes, We Go

• Savannah Sheridan put down 15 kills in SIU's five set win over Missouri State.
• Sheridan, who did not play volleyball last year after sitting out a year, has put down 10-or more kills in 12 matches this season, including a streak of four-straight matches from Sept. 6-10.
• The junior transfer has also been more active at the net defensively, as has tied her career-high for blocks (3) in back-to-back matches.

Serving Tough

• Katy Kluge leads the Salukis with 28 service aces and a .30 aces per set average. She also currently ranks 10th in the MVC in aces per set.
• Kluge has recorded at least one ace in 13 matches this season, including a career-high four in SIU's win over Alabama State on Sept. 14. In seven 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 15 matches this season.