Southern Illinois University
5-13,0-5MVC
Drake University
8-5,3-2MVC
Bulldogs rally to defeat Salukis in five sets
10/08/2021 | 9:32:00 | Women's Volleyball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Drake Bulldogs rallied to defeat the Southern Illinois University volleyball team in five sets (25-22, 25-20, 19-25, 19-25, 6-15) Friday night in Missouri Valley Conference play inside Davies Gym.
The Salukis were sharp from the contest's outset, as they took the opening set, 25-22 and followed with a 25-20 win in the second set. The Bulldogs, however, roared back, as they never trailed after the second set to storm all the way back and escape Carbondale with the win. A large reason for that was the emergence of Drake's block in the final three sets. The Bulldogs finished with 13 total blocks- of which 10 came in the final three sets of Friday's match, which included five blocks in the decisive fifth set that saw SIU hit -.238.
Southern had three hitters reach double figures in kills, which included the sixth kill-dig double-double of the season for Nataly Garcia. Garcia led all attackers with 21 kills on a season-high 71 swings to go along with 16 digs. Tatum Tornatta added 14 kills while Nsia Gittens tallied 12 kills and a season-high six digs. Margherita Giani chipped in seven kills, four blocks and four digs.
Defensively, Katy Kluge led the way with 24 digs to go along with three assists and an ace. Anna Jaworski tallied her sixth career assist-dig double-double with 46 assists and 12 digs while MacKenzie Houser dug out 12 balls. It marked the fourth time this season that Houser has finished in double figures.
SIU used four-straight points to break a 3-all tie in the first set. The Salukis extended their lead to six, 13-7 on an ace by Jaworski but the Bulldogs chipped away and eventually tied the frame at 21-all. From there, the Salukis scored four of the next five points to take the opening set.
Southern broke the second set open with a 7-1 run that turned a 4-all tie into an 11-5 lead. SIU never trailed after that, as they led by as many as seven and Drake could get no closer than four from that point. After the Bulldogs got to within four, 23-19, Southern used a Drake error and a kill by Gittens to take the second set, 25-20.
The Bulldogs scored three of the first four points of the third set and forced the Salukis to play catch up from the onset. Southern was able to get to within one, 9-8 on an ace by Ryan Rednour, but Drake scored the next three points to build its lead back to four. SIU briefly cut its deficit down to three, 15-12, but that was as close as the Salukis could get.
Drake opened the fourth set with six of the first seven points and led by as many as eight before the midway point. Southern made a valiant attempt to rally, cutting its deficit down to two, 18-16, but it was too little, too late.
With momentum on their side, Drake scored the first three points of the fifth set and built an 8-2 lead at the interchange to cruise to the victory. Southern was out of system for nearly the entirety of the final set, as they tallied just two kills to seven attack errors.
The Salukis are back in action tomorrow night when they host the Northern Iowa Panthers. First serve is set for 6 p.m.
