Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Missouri State University
Salukis travel to Missouri State for final road match of 2021 season
11/11/2021 | 11:31:00 | Women's Volleyball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University volleyball team travels to Springfield, Mo. to take on the Missouri State Bears on Friday, Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. The Bears have lost seven-straight, and eight of their last nine, while the Salukis are in search of their first Valley win of the season. Missouri State's last win came against the Salukis, a 3-1 victory in Davies Gym on Oct. 16.
All-time vs. Missouri State
• Missouri State leads the all-time series with the Salukis, 60-21.
• Southern's last win in the series came when it snapped a five-match losing streak to Missouri State with a 3-2 win on Oct. 21, 2019.
- Just six of Southern's 21 wins in the series have come in Springfield.
• 13 of SIU's 21 all-time wins over Missouri State have come in five set matches.
- Southern's last five wins in the series dating back to 2013 have all come in five sets.
Coaching Connection
• Steve McRoberts was named the Missouri State head coach prior to the 2020-21 season.
• Prior to the 2011 season, Allen left Tulsa to take over the Alabama Crimson Tide. McRoberts inherited Allen's Tulsa squad that went 31-3, which included a perfect 20-0 in Conference USA play and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2010. The following season under McRoberts, the Hurricanes won 28 matches and again advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
• McRoberts followed Allen to the SEC in 2014 when he took over at Ole Miss. After Allen was named SIU's head coach in 2018, McRoberts joined Allen in the MVC after he was named the head coach at Missouri State.
• Allen's 667 career wins are the 12th-most among active NCAA DI head coaches.
• McRoberts holds a 11-1 all-time record against Allen's DI teams.
1,000 assists and counting
- With her 29 assists at Drake on Nov. 6, Anna Jaworski became just the third freshman in program history, and first since 2013, to reach the 1,000-assist plateau during their first season on campus.
- Jaworski joined Debbie Barr and Hannah Kaminsky as the only three Saluki first-years to accomplish the feat.
- Jaworski's 1,000 assists are the fourth-most nationally amongst DI freshmen and 11th-most overall.
• Jaworski's 9.52 assists per set average, meanwhile, are the 16th-most among NCAA DI freshmen.
• As far as Saluki freshmen records go, Jaworski's 100 assists through 28 matches already ranks her third 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
- Anna Jaworski - 1,000
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 on Oct. 11 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 24 of SIU's 28 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 - 2,977
Kylee Macke, Drake - 2,433
Hannah Thompson, Bradley - 1,808
Melina Tedrow, Indiana State - 1,609
Brittany Anderson, Valpo - 1,201
Alondra Vazquez, Evansville - 1,183
Amelia Flynn, Missouri State - 1,132
Katy Kluge, SIU - 1,132
Katy Weimerskirch, Illinois State - 1,121
Coming on strong as of late
- Alex Washington put together arguably her best weekend of the 2021 season last week at UNI/Drake, as she just missed back-to-back kill-dig double-doubles.
- Washington opened her weekend with 13 kills and a season-best 15 digs in just three sets at UNI on Nov. 5 for her eight career kill-dig double-double.
- She followed with 9 kills and 10 digs at Drake on Nov. 6.
Getting her shot
- Bryleigh Buchanan made her Saluki debut against Illinois State on Oct. 29 and put down four kills on six swings.
- The Harrisburg, Ill. native followed with five kills and three blocks at Evansville on Nov. 1.
Welcome back
- Bailey Neuberger returned to Southern's lineup against Bradley on Oct. 30 after nearly six weeks without an appearance.
- She put down four kills and tallied a pair of digs and followed with a career-high tying eight kills on 22 swings at Evansville on Nov. 1.
Kills in bunches
• 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 15 of SIU's 28 matches this season, of which seven have come during conference play.
• 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 18 matches that she has appeared, which includes multiple blocks in 10 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.
Swinging from anywhere
• Nataly Garcia ranks second in the Valley in total attacks (1037) and has proven to be Southern's go-to hitter.
• Garcia joined Rachel Maguire (1,050; 2019) and Savannah Sheridan (1,047; 2019) as the only Salukis in the last five years to reach 1,000-plus swings in a single-season.
• Garcia has put down at least 10 kills in 17 matches this season and has tallied 11 kill-dig double-doubles this season.
• The junior college transfer from Navarro College, who led the NJCAA with .73 aces per set in 2020, is tied for eighth in the MVC in total aces with 18. She has served at least one ace in 13 of SIU's 26 matches this season.
• Her six aces in SIU's 3-0 sweep of Mississippi Valley State on Aug. 28 were the most aces by a Saluki since Jennifer Berwanger served up seven at Drake on Nov. 3, 2007. It is tied for the 15th-most in a match in program history.
Putting down kills on the outside
• Nsia Gittens set a career-high with 18 kills against Central Arkansas on Sept. 17.
• Gittens has put down double-digit kills in 12 matches this season.
Getting More Involved
• Ryan Rednour has been seeing the floor more in the back row for SIU and tallied a career-high 17 digs against Indiana State on Oct. 11.
- Rednour has dug out double-digit balls in four matches this season.
• Rednour set a new career-best earlier this season with four aces against Loyola on Sept. 25.
Getting more acclimated
• Margherita Giani, who appeared briefly in just one set during the Spring 2021 season, has taken over the role as SIU's serving middle.
• Giani has 29 aces and is ninth in the league in total blocks (85).
• Giani has taken on a larger role in the offense due to the injury of Imani Hartfield, who was leading the MVC in hitting percentage before she went down.
- The Maissana, Italy native had a career match against Missouri State on Oct. 16, as she hit a career-high .563 and put down 10 kills on just 16 swings. It marked the fourth time that Giani has put down double-digit kills this season and the third time this season that she has hit over .500.
Five Setters
• Southern fell in five sets to both Drake and UNI on Oct. 8-9.
- It marked SIU's fourth and fifth five-set matches of the season.
- In Allen's first year as SIU's head coach, Southern set the school record for most five-set matches played in a season (13) and went 8-5 in those matches.
- The Salukis are 11-11 in five-set matches in Allen's three seasons as head coach.
