Salukis travel to Iowa to take on UNI/Drake

Friday, November 1

Cedar Falls, IA

6 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

University of Northern Iowa

10/30/2019 | 2:37:00 | Women's Volleyball

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

The Southern Illinois University volleyball team heads to Iowa this weekend to tangle with Northern Iowa and Drake. The Salukis open the weekend against the first-place Panthers on Friday at 6 p.m. before taking on the Bulldogs on Saturday at 5 p.m.

All-time vs. UNI

• The Panthers hold a commanding 58-13 lead over the Salukis in an all-time series that dates back to 1982. UNI defeated SIU in three earlier this season on Oct. 5.
• Northern Iowa has won six-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)

All-time vs. Drake

• SIU holds a 44-22 advantage in the all-time series.
• The Salukis played one of their most complete matches of the season in their Oct. 4 win over the Bulldogs, as they tallied 10 blocks, 12 aces and notched their most digs (85) in a four-set match this season.
• SIU is 19-13 all-time against the Bulldogs in Des Moines, with Southern's last win at Drake coming on Oct. 21, 2016.

Already seeing improvements

• The Salukis have seven more wins through 25 games than they had in the 2018 season.
• Southern's +7 win improvement is tied for the seventh-best improvement nationally and tied for the fifth-best in the nation amongst programs with first-year coaching staffs.
• SIU's +7 win improvement is the best in the Missouri Valley Conference, as the Salukis are joined by Evansville as Valley programs who have already exceeded their previous season's win total.

Good Distribution

• Southern currently has six players with 100-plus kills on the season and a seventh, Alayna Martin, is one kill 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.

What a week

• Hannah Becker was spectacular for the Salukis last week en route to being named the MVC Player of the Week.
• She became the first Saluki since Nov. 16, 2015 to earn MVC Player of the Week honors.
• It marked just the sixth time in the last 15 seasons, and the 27th time overall since 1983, that a Saluki has been named MVC POW.
• The redshirt sophomore put down 15-plus kills in each of SIU's three matches- which marked the first time since Andrea Estrada in 2015 that a Saluki has tallied 15 or more kills in three-consecutive matches.
• In SIU's win over Illinois State, Becker put down 20 kills and hit at a .462 clip to become the first Saluki to put down 20-plus kills and hit above .450 in the same match since Taylor Pippen put down 22 kills and hit .463 in SIU's win over Stephen F. Austin on Sept. 11, 2015.

5-Setters Aplenty

• The Salukis are one of 10 teams nationally to have played in nine or more five-set matches this season.
• SIU is tied with Houston for the best winning percentage (.667) of the 10 teams to have played in nine or more five-setters this season.
• Southern is tied for second nationally with Maryland, Western Michigan, Boston College, Oklahoma and Sacramento State for five set wins, as only Houston (8) has more.
• SIU is one of five Valley schools to have played in seven-plus five-set matches this season and are joined by Missouri State (8), Illinois State (7), Evansville (7) and Drake (7).
• Southern broke the school-record earlier this season for most-consecutive 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.

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

Exorcising Demons

• Last week, SIU knocked off Missouri State and followed with a win over Illinois State, a NCAA Tournament team from last season.
• It marked Southern's first win over both programs since 2016 and was SIU's first back-to-back conference wins since 2017.

Magic Number is 8 (MVC Tournament picture)

• Southern is currently tied with Missouri State 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 12 aces in its win over Drake on Oct 4- which was its most in a conference match in the 25-point set era (since 2008).
• The Salukis have 141 aces through 25 matches- which is already their most aces in a season since 2016. With two aces this weekend, Southern will have its most aces in a single-season since 2013 (150).
• Katy Kluge's 33 aces are tied for the most by a Saluki since Andrea Estrada in 2016. It marks just the eighth time in the 25-point set, rally scoring era that a Saluki has tallied 30-plus aces in a season and she is five aces shy of passing Chandra Roberson for the most during that time frame.

Aces in a single-season - 25-point sets, rally scoring era (2008)
Chandra Roberson - 37 - 2008
Hannah Kaminsky - 36 - 2015
Katy Kluge - 33 - 2019
Andrea Estrada - 33 - 2016
Alex Rivera - 33 - 2013
Jennifer Berwanger - 32 - 2007
Hannah Kaminsky - 32 - 2014
Hannah Kaminsky - 31 - 2013

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.
• Rojas has 20 double-digit dig outputs this season, which includes nine matches with 20-plus digs. The senior libero has more 20-plus dig outputs (9) this season than she had 10-plus digs matches (6) all of last season.

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 last 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.