Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Middle Tennessee
Volleyball set to wrap up non-conference play at Golden Eagle Invitational
09/19/2019 | 2:03:00 | Women's Volleyball
The Southern Illinois University volleyball team travels to Tennessee Tech to close out non-conference play at the Golden Eagle Invitational on Sept. 20-21. The Salukis open against Middle Tennessee on Friday at 4 p.m. before taking on Tennessee Tech on Saturday at 10 a.m. Southern closes out the two-day tournament against Western Illinois on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 5 p.m.
ÂAll-Time vs. Middle Tennessee
• This marks the fourth time that Middle Tennessee and SIU have met, as Southern improved to 2-1 all-time vs. MTSU with a 3-1 win on Aug. 30.
• Two of the three times that the two teams have met previously, in 1976 and again in 2013, the match went five sets.
• Emma Baalman had 10 kills and three blocks in the four-set win over MTSU earlier this season while Rachel Maguire tallied her first triple-double of the season with 10 kills, 14 assists and 11 digs.
All-Time vs. Tennessee Tech
• This is the third time that SIU and Tennessee Tech have met. Southern is 2-0 all-time against TTU.
• The Salukis won the most recent meeting- a sweep of the Golden Eagles at the Ball State Tournament on Sept. 6, 2008.
• SIU defeated Tennessee Tech, 2-0, in Carbondale in the first-ever meeting between the two schools on Oct. 27, 1978.
Valley Connections
• TTU's head coach, Jeannette Waldo, has MVC ties as she was an assistant coach at Missouri State prior to her stint at TTU.
• Tennessee Tech's athletic trainer, Chuck Cushman, is a 2010 graduate of Southern Illinois and worked under Ed Thompson and Kristin Trotter.
All-time vs. the Ohio Valley Conference
• Southern is 87-36 (.702) all-time versus current OVC schools.Â
• The Salukis have won 22 of their last 27 matches against Ohio Valley schools dating back to 2006.Â
• SIU is 3-0 this season against OVC Schools with wins over MTSU, SEMO and UT Martin.
All-Time vs. Western Illinois
• The Salukis hold a commanding 25-7 lead over Western Illinois in a series that dates back to 1975. Southern and Western were both founding members of the Gateway Conference.
• SIU won the most recent meeting between the two programs- a 3-1 win at DeKalb, Ill. on Aug. 29, 2009.
• Southern has won 11-straight over the Leathernecks from 1991 through 2009.
Leading the nation
• Rachel Maguire currently leads the nation in triple-doubles with five.
• Alayna Martin is tied for eighth in the nation in triple-doubles with one.
• SIU is the only program in the nation currently with two players with at least one triple-double.
• Martin and Maguire became just the second Saluki tandem, and the first since Nov. 13, 1981, to record triple-doubles in the same match against IUPUI.
Career Night
• Hannah Becker had a career night in the 3-2 win over UT Martin on Tuesday. She set career-highs in both kills (15) and attempts (45).Â
• It was just the second time in her career, and second time this season, that the redshirt sophomore has put down double-digit kills. Becker put down 10 kills against St. Louis on Aug. 31.Â
• Becker has played middle, right side and outside hitter at points during the season and has had at least five kills in 10 of SIU's 11 matches.
As She Goes, We Go
• Savannah Sheridan put down nine kills in SIU's win over UT Martin on Tuesday.Â
• Sheridan, who did not play volleyball last year after sitting out a year, has put down 10-or more kills in five matches this season, including a streak of four-straight matches from Sept. 6-10.Â
• The Salukis are 4-1 this season when Sheridan tallies 10-plus kills.
Hitting for a high efficiency in the middle
• Lindsey Paulsen hit .316 with nine kills in the win over UT Martin on Tuesday.
• Paulsen has now put down at least nine kills in four matches this season- which is as many times as she did in 23 matches a year ago.
• The redshirt junior has also hit above .300 in six matches this season- Southern is 5-1 in those matches.
• Fellow middle Emma Baalman leads the team with a .344 hitting % while Paulsen is second at .283. The two are hitting a combined .303.
Piloting the offense
• Alayna Martin has tallied nine assist-dig double-doubles this season, including an active streak of six-straight matches with double-digit assists and digs. She also posted the first triple-double of her career in the loss to IUPUI.
• Martin's 24 career assist-dig double-doubles are tied with Beth Diehl for 13th on SIU's all-time list.
• Martin has tallied 15 swings in four-straight matches and has at least seven kills in three-straight matches.
• Martin's 34 kills in 11 matches this season are five off of her 2018 total.
Winning Record
• Southern won its sixth match on Tuesday with a five-set win over UT Martin.
• With the win, SIU exceeded its win total from a year ago in its 11th match.
• It marked the third time already this season that Southern has won back-to-back matches, which is once more than in the previous two seasons combined.
• Should Southern win three-straight matches, it would be its longest win streak since 2016 when SIU opened the season with five-straight wins and had three separate win streaks of four or more.
Straw that stirs the drink
• Rachel Maguire tied Meg Viggars (2015) school-record of three-straight matches with a triple-double after she tallied 13 kills, 19 assists, 10 digs and a pair of aces in the win over Alabama State on Sept. 14.
• Through 11 matches, the junior setter/hitter has five triple-doubles- one off of Viggars school record of six triple-doubles, set in 2015.Â
Getting their moneys worth
• Southern has played in a school record five-straight five-set matches, including a 3-2 win over UT Martin on Tuesday night. Â
• It bested the previous school record for the longest streak of five-set matches set in 1988.Â
• The most five-set matches in one season is 11, set during the 1982 season. SIU went 8-3 in those matches with its eight five-set wins also a single-season program record.
• The Salukis are 127-110 (.533) all-time in five set matches since 1976.
Keeping it off the floor
• Southern ranks second nationally in total digs (788).
• SIU's 110 digs in its five-set match against IUPUI are the third-most in a match nationally this season.
• Southern's 110 digs are its most in a match since Nov. 20, 2009- a five-set loss to Evansville.
Leading the back row
• Laura Rojas has dug out at least 10 balls in all 11 of SIU's matches this season, including 24 digs in SIU's win over UT Martin on Tuesday.Â
• Her 11 matches with double-digit digs nearly doubled her total from last season. Rojas had 10-plus digs in six matches in her first season as a Saluki.
• Earlier this season she notched a career-high with 26 digs against St. Louis and has dug out 20-plus balls in five matches this season, including in four of SIU's last five matches.
