Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Valparaiso University
Volleyball hosts Valparaiso, Loyola for final homestand of 2019
11/05/2019 | 4:42:00 | Women's Volleyball
The Salukis will celebrate their seniors Alayna Martin and Laura Rojas before Saturday's match.
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Salukis will close out the home portion of their 2019Â season with a pair of Missouri Valley Conference contests this weekend. SIU will host Valparaiso at 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 8, before taking on Loyola at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 9. Saturday's match will serve as Senior Night and Southern will honor its two seniors, Alayna Martin and Laura Rojas, prior to Saturday's match.
All-time series vs. Valparaiso
•The Salukis are 4-4 all-time vs. the Crusaders, who joined the MVC prior to the 2017 season.Â
•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.Â
•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.Â
•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 four-straight in the series, including a 3-0 win over the Salukis on Oct. 12.
• SIU's last home win over Valpo: 3-1 on Sept. 25, 2017.
All-time series vs. Loyola
•The Ramblers took a 10-7 edge in the all-time series that dates back to 1984 with their seven-straight win in the series on Oct. 11.
•The two teams met just four times prior to Loyola joining the MVC in 2013 with SIU winning three of those four meetings.Â
•Since then, the Ramblers hold a 9-4 advantage and have won seven-straight in the series.
•SIU's last home win over Loyola: 3-1 on Sept. 28, 2013.
Senior Night
• Saturday's match against Loyola will mark the final home match for seniors Alayna Martin and Laura Rojas.
• Martin is having a solid senior campaign and has already posted her most kills, digs and aces in a season in her career.
• The Chesterfield, Mo. native is 10th all-time in program history with 2,172 assists and is 104 digs shy of 1,000 for her career.
• Rojas currently ranks 31st nationally in total digs with a team-best 461. Her 461 digs are the most in a single-season by a Saluki since Marian Pilon tallied 482 digs during the 2015 season.
Keeping the ball alive
• The Salukis notched 91 digs in their four-set win over Drake on Saturday- their most in a four set match since Sept. 21, 2011.Â
• Southern had four players reach double figures in digs in the victory led by a career-high 32 digs from Laura Rojas.
• It was the most digs in a four set match by a Saluki since Bailey Yeager tallied 33 digs at Drake on Oct. 26, 2012.
Tenacious D
• Southern's 91 digs in the win at Drake marked the fourth time already this season that the Salukis have tallied 90-plus digs in a match.
• SIU's four 90-plus dig outputs are as many as it had notched in the previous six seasons combined.
Going out on top
• Laura Rojas averaged a robust 6.62 digs per set and added seven assists and two aces as Southern split a pair of MVC matches in Iowa.Â
• The Orlando, Fla. native tallied a career-best 32 digs, five assists and two aces in SIU's four-set win at Drake.Â
• It marked the first time a Saluki has dug out 30-plus balls in a four-set match since 2012 and gave Rojas her third-straight match with 20-plus digs.
• Rojas has 22 double-digit dig outputs this season, which includes 11 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.
Approaching 2,000 digs
• The Salukis are 64 digs shy of 2,000 for the season.
• Southern's 1,936 digs are the fifth-most in a single-season in program history, and its most since 2015.Â
• SIU has only reached 2,000 digs as a team three times, most recently in 1991.Â
• The school record for digs in a season is 2,231 set in 1985 when Southern played 37 matches.
• SIU's 17.44 digs per set rank fourth in program history and would be its best since 2008.
• Southern ranks first nationally in total digs with 1,936 and is 19th in the nation with its 17.44 digs per set average.
Another one
• Rachel Maguire notched her 10th triple-double of the season with 10 kills, 27 assists and 12 digs in the win at Drake.Â
• Her 10 triple-doubles not only lead the nation, but it ties her with Meg Viggars for the most in a career in program history.Â
• Her 10 triple-doubles are the most by a Missouri Valley Conference player since at least 2015 and are tied for the 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) - 10Â
Jo-Leigh Vervelde, Western Colorado (2015) - 10
Rachel Maguire, SIU (2019) - 10
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 break a tie with her and Meg Viggars (10) for the most triple-doubles in a career in school history.Â
• Maguire and Viggars are two of the four Salukis in program history with multiple triple-doubles in a career.
Making a big difference already
• The Salukis have eight more wins through 27 games than they had in the 2018 season.Â
• Southern's +8 win improvement is tied for the eighth-best improvement nationally and tied for the fifth-best in the nation amongst program's with first-year coaching staffs.Â
• SIU's +8 win improvement is the best in the Missouri Valley Conference, as the Salukis are joined by Evansville as Valley program's who have already exceeded their previous season's win total.
Good Distribution
• Southern currently has seven players with 100-plus kills on the season.
• It marks just the fourth season in program history dating back to 1980 in which Southern has had seven or more hitters reach the century mark in a single-season.Â
• Southern last accomplished the feat in 2016 and also did so in 1997 and 1985.
• The school record for most players with a 100-plus kills in a single-season is eight, set in 1997.Â
She's on a roll
• Hannah Becker became the first Saluki since Nov. 16, 2015 to earn MVC Player of the Week honors after her impressive week from Oct. 21-26.Â
• 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 10-plus kills in seven-straight matches and was the first Saluki since Andrea Estrada in 2015 to put down 15-plus kills in three-straight matches.
• In SIU's win over Illinois State on Oct. 25, 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.
Sweeping the season series
• The Salukis beat the Drake Bulldogs in four sets on Nov. 2 to sweep the season series.Â
• It marked the first time since 2016 that Southern has swept the season series from Drake.
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 2007).
• The Salukis have 152 aces through 27 matches- which is their most aces in a season since 2007.Â
• Katy Kluge's 34 aces are the most by a Saluki since Hannah Kaminsky in 2015. 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 four 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 - 34 - 2019
Andrea Estrada - 33 - 2016
Alex Rivera - 33 - 2013
Jennifer Berwanger - 32 - 2007
Hannah Kaminsky - 32 - 2014
Hannah Kaminsky - 31 - 2013
