Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
4-4
IUPUI
3-3
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IUPUI | 21 | 16 | 26 | 26 | 15 | 3 |
| Southern Ill. | 25 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 10 | 2 |
Salukis drop a pair of heartbreakers on day one of home invitational
09/13/2019 | 11:35:00 | Women's Volleyball
Southern falls to both IUPUI and Memphis in five sets.
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University volleyball team dropped a pair of five-set heartbreakers on day one of the Saluki Invitational on Saturday (Sept. 13).
The Salukis fell to IUPUI, 3-2 (25-21, 25-16, 24-26, 24-26, 10-15) to open the day and in the nightcap, couldn't quite pull off the comeback as they fell to Memphis, 3-2 (24-26, 17-25, 25-23, 25-13, 10-15).
Against the Jaguars (3-5), Southern saw its lead evaporate after it cruised to wins in set one and two. It looked as though the Salukis were going to pull off the sweep after a ball handling error by IUPUI put SIU ahead 23-13 in set three, but the Jaguars scored 13 of the final 14 points to force a fourth set. With momentum on their side, IUPUI completed the comeback with wins in sets four and five.
"I would've liked to see us play three complete sets," head coach Ed Allen said of the IUPUI match. "We broke down in serve receive, made some unforced errors and we panicked."
In the loss to the Jaguars, Southern had two players notch triple-doubles. Both of SIU's setters, Rachel Maguire and Alayna Martin, posted double-digit kills/assists/digs. It marked just the second time in school history, and the first time since Nov. 13, 1981, that two Salukis have notched triple-doubles in the same match.
Martin, who played all the way around and hit in the front row, had a career day. Martin tallied her first career triple-double as she finished with 13 kills, 22 assists and 13 digs. The senior from Chesterfield, Mo. also hit a team-high .310 and had two of SIU's three aces.
Maguire, meanwhile, put down 10 kills to go along with 32 assists and 17 digs. Lindsey Paulsen added a career-high 15 kills and chipped in her first career ace.
In the nightcap against Memphis, SIU nearly returned the favor, as it battled back from a 2-0 deficit to force a decisive fifth set. The Salukis, however, ran out of gas, as the Tigers rebounded to take the fifth frame, 15-10.
"I thought once we settled into the match we played a lot better," Allen said. "The ability to execute a game plan at the start of the match is important. We can pay attention to detail in spurts but the ability to execute our game plan over a two hour period of time is something we are continuing to work towards."
Against the Tigers, Maguire again recorded a triple-double, as she finished with 13 kills, nine of which came in the first set, to go along with 18 assists and 10 digs. In doing so, Maguire joins Dana Olden (1990) and Meg Viggars (2015) as the only Salukis in program history to record back-to-back triple-doubles.
Southern finished with a season-high nine blocks behind five from Paulsen, who also added eight kills and a pair of service aces. SIU also had five players with double-digit digs, led by Laura Rojas, who dug out 22 balls.
The Salukis close out play at their home invitational tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. against Alabama State.
