Southern Illinois University
Valparaiso University
Game Notes: Volleyball at Valparaiso
02/12/2021 | 12:46:00 | Women's Volleyball
The Salukis are looking for their first win at Valpo.
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All-time vs. Valparaiso
• The Salukis are 4-5 all-time vs. the Brown and Gold, who joined the MVC prior to the 2017 season.Â
•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.Â
•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.Â
•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 five-straight in the series, including a 3-2 win over the Salukis on Nov. 8.
•SIU has never won at Valparaiso. Valpo holds a 3-0 record over SIU on its home floor.
Last time they met
- The Salukis suffered a hard-fought defeat at the hands of Valparaiso, 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 25-17, 12-25, 11-15) Nov. 8 inside Davies Gym.
- Southern lost the first set but rallied to win the next two. Valpo rallied last, however, as they cruised to a 25-12 set four win and outlasted Southern in the fifth frame, 15-11, to seal the win.
- Rachel Maguire had a career night in the loss. Maguire tallied her school-record 11th triple-double, as she put down a career-high 18 kills to go along with 22 assists and 10 digs. In doing so, she broke Meg Viggars' program record for most triple-doubles in a career.
- Five Salukis tallied at least eight kills in the match. Savannah Sheridan hit .350 with 16 kills while Lindsey Paulsen hit at a .450 clip with nine kills and six blocks.
Running the middles
- Southern's middle hitters, Imani Hartfield and Emma Baalman, rank 1-2 in the MVC in hitting percentage.
- Hartfield ranks first at .339, while Baalman is second at .336.
Playing beyond her years
• Hartfield hit a career-best .583 with eight kills on 12 swings against Missouri State on Jan. 30. She followed with a career-high 14 kills against the Bears on Feb. 2.
• The Sanford, Fla. native has put down at least six kills in five of her first six collegiate matches and has just 14 errors on 112 swings this season.
• Hartfield currently leads all Valley freshmen, and ranks 20th nationally among first-years, with a .339 hitting percentage.Â
Covering Ground
- Katy Kluge ranks second in the MVC, and 21st nationally, with a 5.46 digs per set average.Â
- Kluge has finished with at least 12 digs in each of SIU's six matches this season, which included a career-high 34 against Missouri State on Jan. 30.
- Kluge's 5.46 digs/set average is more than double her average (2.54 digs/set) from a year ago.
- Kluge's 34 digs were the most by a Saluki since 2012 and are tied for the most in a five-set match in school history. Overall, it is tied for the third-most in a match of any length in program history.
- It marked just the 16th time in program history that a Saluki has tallied 30-plus digs in a single match.
- The Oconomowoc, Wis. native has more assists through six matches this season (24) as she had through 31 matches a year ago (17).
- The junior libero also has five aces in her last six sets and leads the Salukis with eight total aces.
Getting her chance to run the show
- Peyton Plant made her first career start at setter against Loyola on Feb. 8.
- Plant finished with 19 assists, six digs, two kills and an ace.
First career kill
- Defensive specialist Ryan Rednour recorded her first collegiate kill against Loyola on Feb. 8.
- The play in which Rednour recorded her kill was featured on Sportcenter's snapchat story as the No. 4 highlight of the night. Kluge dove to keep the ball alive, Savannah Sheridan chased down the second contact and Rednour got enough on the ball to get it just over the net for the kill.
Hard to block
- The Salukis currently rank first in the Valley in fewest times blocked per set (1.58/set).Â
- Valpo, on the other hand, ranks 10th in the category, as opponents are averaging 2.62 blocks/set.Â
- Conversely, the ties are turned when it comes to allowing aces. Valpo has allowed the fewest aces per set (.86) in the MVC, while Southern has allowed the most per set (1.83).
Mack attack
- MacKenzie Houser has played in all six matches this season in the back row for Southern.
- The Pleasant Plains, Ill. native has dug out 10-plus balls in three matches this season, which includes a career-high 18 in SIU's five-set win at Memphis (Jan. 23).Â
- Houser has served at least one ace in back-to-back matches and has recorded at least one assist in three-straight matches.
Picking up where she left off
- Alex Washington tallied 100 kills in just nine matches in 2019 before having her season cut short due to injury.Â
- Washington also notched six aces (.2/set) in those nine matches.
- While a lingering injury has made playing the front row early this season difficult, Washington continues to serve strong- she has four aces through six matches, which matches her .2 aces per set average from a year ago.
Racking up kills
• Savannah Sheridan put down double-digit kills in three-straight matches prior to the Loyola series.
• Sheridan has now put down double figure kills in 21 matches during her two seasons at SIU. She needs just 25 kills to reach 400 for her career.
First Collegiate Start
- After putting down five kills on 18 swings against Loyola on Feb. 7, Taylor Morgan earned her first collegiate start the following day against the Ramblers.Â
- Morgan tallied five kills and four digs in her first start.
Back in the Hoosier State
- Tatum Tornatta, a native of Evansville, Ind. returns to the Hoosier state for the first time as a member of the Salukis.Â
- The freshman outside hitter put down double-digit kills in back-to-back matches (at Memphis, 13; vs. Mo. State, 11) for the first time in her career.
- Tornatta opened her collegiate career with at least six kills in the first five matches of her career.
