Salukis open second half of Valley play at Loyola, Valparaiso

The Southern Illinois University volleyball team opens the second half of Missouri Valley Conference play Friday night at Loyola on Oct. 22. The Salukis will then tangle with the Valparaiso Beacons on Saturday, Oct. 23 at 5 p.m. The first-place Ramblers hold a two-match lead in the conference standings heading into the final stretch of the 2021 season, while Valparaiso has lost three-straight after having won four of its five to open MVC play.

All-time vs. Valparaiso

• The Salukis are 5-7 all-time vs. the Beacons, who joined the MVC prior to the 2017 season.

•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.

•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.

•The Salukis again faced Valpo with a tournament title on the line in 2012, as the Salukis defeated Valparaiso in straight-sets on Sept. 1, 2012 to win the Billiken Invitational.

•Valpo has since won seven of the last eight matches in the series, including a 3-1 win over SIU on Sept. 24.

• SIU posted its first-ever win at Valpo- a five-set victory- on Feb. 14, 2021.

All-time series vs. Loyola

• The Ramblers took an 14-7 edge in the all-time series that dates back to 1984.

• The two teams met just four times prior to Loyola joining the MVC in 2013 with SIU winning three of those four meetings.

• Since then, the Ramblers hold a 13-4 advantage and have won 11-straight in the series.

• Southern's last two wins in the series (10/30/15; 11/1/14) both came in Chicago.

SIU is 4-5 all-time against Loyola in Chicago.

Leading the Nation

• Anna Jaworski's 829 total assists are the fourth-most nationally and the most among NCAA DI freshmen.

• Jaworski's 10.23 assists per set average, meanwhile, are the 10th-most among NCAA DI freshmen.

• As far as Saluki freshmen records go, Jaworksi's 829 assists through 21 matches already ranks her fourth in school history. Debbie Barr-Rednour, mother of SIU's Ryan Rednour, holds the SIU freshman record with 1433 assists in 1996.

SIU freshmen assists record

Debbie Barr - 1,433
Hannah Kaminsky - 1,194
Holly Marita - 978
Anna Jaworski - 829

1,000 Career Digs and counting

Katy Kluge became the 12th Saluki in program history to reach the 1,000 career dig plateau on Oct. 11 at Indiana State.
Kluge tallied 15 digs against the Sycamores to become the first Saluki since Andrea Estrada in 2017 to join the club.
The junior from Oconomowoc, Wis. has reached double figures in digs in 18 of SIU's 21 matches this season, which includes six matches with 20-plus digs.
Kluge is the ninth active player in the Missouri Valley Conference to reach the 1,000 dig milestone.

Rylee Cookerly, Valpo - 2,883

Kylee Macke, Drake - 2,345

Hannah Thompson, Bradley - 1,695

Melina Tedrow, Indiana State - 1,516

Brittany Anderson, Valpo - 1,165

Alondra Vazquez, Evansville - 1,132

Amelia Flynn, Missouri State - 1,052

Katy Kluge, SIU - 1,032

Katy Weimerskirch, Illinois State - 1,000

Breakout sophomore season

• Tatum Tornatta, who put down double-digit kills in five matches during the spring season, tied her career-high with 18 kills on .485 hitting against Loyola on Sept. 25.

• Tornatta has tallied double figure kills in 13 of SIU's 21 matches this season and in three of her last four matches.

• The Evansville, Ind. native has also been adept at changing up her shots to find open holes on the floor- she has hit over .300 in eight matches, which includes five matches in which she has hit over .400.

Filling in

• Due to injuries to both Imani Hartfield and Maggie Wallenberger, freshman Averi Vanderzille has been thrust into the spotlight in the middle.

• Vanderzille has notched at least one block in all 13 matches that she has appeared, which includes multiple blocks in eight matches this season.

• The Carterville, Ill. native also tied her season-best with five kills and hit at a .364 clip against Bradley on Oct. 1.

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Players Mentioned

Imani Hartfield

Anna Jaworski

Katy Kluge

Ryan Rednour

Tatum Tornatta

Averi Vanderzille

Maggie Wallenberger

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