Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
1-2
Alabama A&M University
2-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama A&M | 25 | 31 | 19 | 20 | 1 |
| Southern Ill. | 17 | 33 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Volleyball wins home opener over Alabama A&M
09/06/2019 | 3:56:00 | Women's Volleyball
The Salukis rallied from a set one defeat to take the match in four sets.
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University volleyball team won its home opener Friday afternoon at the Banterra Center, as it defeated Alabama A&M, 3-1 (17-25, 33-31, 25-19, 25-20) to open play at the Saluki Bash.
Southern rallied from a set one loss to win the next three frames, which included a second set that featured eight set points. The Salukis (2-2) also overcame a slow start and were able to figure out Alabama A&M's quick serves that initially gave Southern's offense fits and made it difficult for the Salukis to stay in system.
"I thought Alabama A&M did a good job of setting the tempo of the match by quick serving us and creating frustration," said first-year head coach Ed Allen. "We committed too many errors and had too many self-inflicted mistakes. But we did do a good job of passing the ball and dealing with first-ball contacts out of side out."
After the Salukis battled to a 33-31 set two win, Allen and his staff switched up the lineup. Hannah Becker came in to play middle, which allowed Kyra Hunter to play right side. The move paid immediate dividends- the two combined for 15 kills and hit .367. Becker hit at a .312 clip with seven kills while Hunter hit .429 with eight kills on 14 swings.
"After the second set we changed our lineup and that was huge," Allen said. "We got Kyra in on the right side and Hannah in the middle. Hannah is one of our biggest unsung heroes in that she is being asked to play outside, middle and right side. Wherever we have a hole she has to plug it and she has done a brilliant job. We switched the lineup and she went in the middle, hit for a high average and that was a difference maker for us."
With Becker and Hunter providing additional firepower, the offense continued to click. Southern led for the entirety of the third set and hit .419. The Salukis followed that up by hitting .441 with just two hitting errors in the fourth set- a 25-20 win.
Southern hit a season-best .407 for the match and had three hitters with 10-plus kills. Alex Washington led the way with her third-straight kill-dig double-double. The freshman outside hitter set career-bests in kills (16) and digs (16) in the win. Savannah Sheridan hit .619 with a season-high 13 kills on 21 swings with no errors. Rachel Maguire also put down double-digit kills as she finished with 10 kills, 22 assists and eight digs.
"We had nice balance offensively and hit for a decent percentage," Allen said. "(Alabama A&M) hit over .300 against us, which is more of an indictment of our defensive abilities than their offensive prowess."
Alayna Martin piloted Southern's offense and tallied 30 assists and seven digs. Laura Rojas added a team-best 18 digs to go along with six assists.
The Salukis will have four hours off before taking on their sister school, SIUE in the nightcap. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Banterra Center. The Cougars (3-1) outlasted Southeastern Louisiana in five sets in the Saluki Bash opener.
"SIUE has great size at the net that is going to create some challenges for our left side," Allen said. "They run a 6-2 as well and have an active setter that tries to pick up a kill or two in every set. Our ability to defend her and be disciplined in base position is going to be of great importance."
