Salukis travel north for pair of MVC tilts

Friday, October 11

Chicago, IL

6 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

Loyola University Chicago

Photo by: Harold David Rials

10/09/2019 | 2:41:00 | Women's Volleyball

SIU vs. Loyola/Valpo Notes

By: Will Becque, SIUSalukis.com

The Southern Illinois University volleyball team travels north over the weekend to take on a pair of Missouri Valley Conference foes. The Salukis and the Ramblers tangle on Friday, Oct. 11 at 6 p.m., and SIU faces the Valparaiso Crusaders on Saturday, Oct.12 at 5 p.m. Both of Southern's matches will be broadcast on ESPN3 or ESPN+.

All-time series vs. Loyola

•The Ramblers took a slight 9-7 edge in the all-time series that dates back to 1984 with their season sweep a year ago.
•The two teams met just four times prior to Loyola joining the MVC in 2013 with SIU winning three of those four meetings.
•Since then, the Ramblers hold an 8-4 advantage and have won six-straight in the series.
•Southern's last three wins in the series have come in Chicago, including its most recent- a five-set win on Oct. 30, 2015.

All-time vs. the Crusaders

•The Salukis are 4-3 all-time vs. the Crusaders, who joined the MVC prior to the 2017 season.
•Southern won the first-ever MVC meeting between the programs on Sept. 25, a 3-1 victory and won the first-ever meeting between the two programs, a 3-0 win on Sept. 11, 1993.
•The two teams tangled once again at the Saluki Invitational in 2009, as the Salukis won a five-set thriller to finish their home tournament with a 3-0 record.
•The Salukis again faced the Crusaders with a tournament title on the line in 2012, as the Salukis defeated Valpo in straight-sets on Sept. 1, 2012 to win the Billiken Invitational.
•The Crusaders have won three-straight in the series, including a season sweep of the Salukis a year ago.

Leading the Nation

• Rachel Maguire leads the nation in triple-doubles with nine.
• She recorded her ninth triple-double of the season in SIU's four-set win over Drake on Oct. 4 with 10 kills, 18 assists and 12 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.

Triple Doubles, NCAA - Last 5 seasons

Taylor Smith, Eastern Illinois (2017) - 10
Jo-Leigh Vervelde, Western Colorado (2015) - 10
Rachel Maguire, SIU (2019) - 9
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

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.

Career Record, Triple-Doubles
Meg Viggars - 10
Rachel Maguire - 9
Dana Olden - 5
Sonya Locke - 2

Keeping the ball off the floor

• SIU tallied 115 digs in its five-set win over Bradley on Sept. 27, which were its most digs in a match in the 25-point rally scoring era and its most in a match of any length since 1990.
• It also marked the second time this season that the Salukis have notched a top-10 school mark for digs in a match.

5-Setters Aplenty

• The Salukis are one of 11 teams nationally to have played in seven or more five-set matches this season.
•SIU has the best winning percentage (.714) of the 11 teams to have played in seven or more five-setters this season.
•Southern is tied with Central Arkansas for second nationally in five sets wins, as only Houston (6) has more.
•SIU is one of five 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
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
Evansville (2019) - 4

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 1,313 and is 15th in the nation with a 17.28 digs per set average.
•Four Salukis have already reached the century mark for digs - Laura Rojas (339), Alayna Martin (2226), Rachel Maguire (200) and Katy Kluge (177).
•SIU's 115 digs in its five-set win over Bradley are tied for the third-most in a five-set match in the NCAA this season.

Don't throw in the towel

•Seven of SIU's last 12 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 earlier this season was its longest-win streak since 2016.

In the win over Drake, SIU:

•Tied its season-best for blocks in a match (10).
•Served up 12 aces- their most in a MVC match in the 25-point set era (since 2007).
•Tallied 85 digs- their most in a four-set match this season.

As She Goes, We Go

• Savannah Sheridan put down 12 kills in the win over Drake on Oct. 4.
• Sheridan, who did not play volleyball last year after sitting out a year, has put down 10-or more kills in nine matches this season, including a streak of four-straight matches from Sept. 6-10.
• The Salukis are 8-1 this season when Sheridan tallies 10-plus kills.

Hitting for a high efficiency in the middle

• Emma Baalman ranks fourth in the MVC with a .305 hitting %.
• The redshirt junior has recorded two or fewer hitting errors in 12 of the 14 matches that she has played in, including six with just one error.
•She has hit .300 or better in eight matches this season, including five matches in which she has hit over .400.

Piloting the offense

• Alayna Martin has tallied 14 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.
•The senior setter/hitter came into the 2019 season with 15 assist-dig double-doubles in 69 career matches.
• Martin's 29 career assist-dig double-doubles are 10th on SIU's all-time list.
•The Chesterfield, Mo. native is 21 assists shy of 2,000 for her career.
•In doing so, Martin will become the 12th player in program history to reach the 2,000 assist milestone and the first to do so since Meg Viggars in 2016.
• Martin has tallied double-digit swings in 11-straight matches.
• Martin's 71 kills in 18 matches this season are more than she had in 69 career matches (47) coming into this season.

Career Night

•Hannah Becker put down 3.57 kills per set as SIU split a pair of home conference matches this past weekend.
•The redshirt sophomore had a career-night in the win over Drake on Oct. 4, as she hit .354 and set career-bests in both kills (19) and digs (6).
•It marked the fifth time this season that the Polk City, Iowa native has put down double-digit kills.
•Southern is 4-0 this season when Becker hits .300 or better.

Leading the back row

• Laura Rojas has dug out at least 10 balls in 16 of SIU's 18 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 16 matches with double-digit digs has nearly tripled 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 eight matches this season.
•She ranks second in the MVC, and 14th nationally, in total digs with 339.

Serving Tough

• Katy Kluge leads the Salukis with 25 service aces and a .34 aces per set average. She also currently ranks seventh in the MVC in aces per set.
• Kluge has recorded at least one ace in 13 of SIU's 18 matches this season, including a career-high tying four in SIU's win over Drake on Oct. 4. In six of those 13 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 13 of SIU's 18 matches this season.