Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Saluki Volleyball announces 2019 schedule
05/02/2019 | 12:01:00 | Women's Volleyball
SIU will play eight-straight matches at home in 2019- its longest homestand since 1980.
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University volleyball team has announced its schedule for the 2019 campaign, head coach Ed Allen's inaugural season at the helm of the Salukis.
SIU returns 13 letterwinners from a year ago, including four of its top-six attackers. Southern will also welcome a talented group of newcomers, highlighted by a pair of highly-regarded pin hitters in freshman outside hitter Alex Washington and junior transfer opposite hitter Kyra Hunter.
"Our 2019 schedule is perfect for where we are at right now," Allen said. "We are a program that is trying to build and we have matches on our schedule that allow us to be competitive, which is important. At the same time, it is a challenging schedule that will force us to play well."
SIU opens the 2019 regular season with three matches at the Marcia Hamilton Classic, hosted by St. Louis University. Southern will take on Portland State, Saint Louis and Middle Tennessee State during its season-opening tournament.
Southern will then return home for eight-straight matches, which will be SIU's longest homestand since 1980. The Salukis will host back-to-back tournaments, beginning Sept. 6 with the Saluki Bash. Southern will welcome Alabama A&M, SIU-Edwardsville and Southeastern Louisiana to the SIU Arena for the two-day tournament.
The following Tuesday, Sept. 10, SIU will host SEMO for a non-conference clash before welcoming IUPUI, Memphis and Alabama State for the annual Saluki Invitational on Sept. 13-14. The homestand will come to a close on Tuesday, Sept. 17 when the Salukis take on the Skyhawks of UT Martin. Southern defeated UT Martin in five-sets at the Cardinal Classic a year ago.
"Even though we are playing both tournaments at SIU Arena, it is quite an advantage to play in a confined and special environment like Davies," Allen said. "I love Davies because it is an older gym that has so much history."
SIU will then hit the road for five-straight matches beginning on Sept. 20-21 with Tennessee Tech's Tournament.
The Salukis open their 18-match Missouri Valley Conference slate on Friday, Sept. 27 at Bradley before traveling to Normal, Ill. to face the Illinois State Redbirds on Saturday, Sept. 28.
Southern will have plenty of early tests during its conference schedule. Five of its first six Valley matches are against programs that played postseason volleyball a year ago. UNI won the league to earn the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament while conference runner-up Illinois State was an at-large selection. Bradley, Drake and Valparaiso, meanwhile, competed in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC), where the Crusaders advanced to the NIVC quarterfinals.
"We are excited to get to see all of the teams in the Valley and to be able to get an idea of the talent that is in our league, top to bottom," Allen said.
Southern's home conference opener is set for Oct. 4 against Drake. The Salukis will follow with a match against the defending MVC Champions, the UNI Panthers, on Saturday, Oct. 5.
SIU will take on Loyola on Saturday, Nov. 9 for Senior Day and the Salukis will wrap up conference play at Missouri State on Friday, Nov. 22.
The MVC Tournament, which will be hosted by Missouri State, is set for Nov. 28.
SIU's full schedule can be found here. Season tickets, as well as single-match tickets, will go on sale this summer.
