Southern Illinois University
Bradley University
Saluki volleyball heads to Bradley
02/27/2021 | 11:44:00 | Women's Volleyball
The Southern Illinois University volleyball team heads to Peoria, Ill. to play two matches against the Bradley Braves. The Braves have won four-straight heading into Sunday's tilt, while Southern looks to repeat its performance in Peoria from a year ago in which the Salukis held on for a five-set win over Bradley on Sept. 27, 2019. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+.
All-Time vs. the Braves
• The Braves and the Salukis will meet for the 69th time Sunday in a series that dates back to 1975.Â
• SIU leads the all-time series, 46-22, which includes a 22-11 record against Bradley in Carbondale.
• The two teams split the season series a year ago, as the visiting team was victorious in each of the two meetings.
Southern used a balanced offensive attack at Bradley on Sept. 27 to win in five-sets, as three players finished with double-digit kills and six Salukis tallied double figure digs to win its conference opener.
• The Salukis had difficulty with first ball contacts in its home loss to Bradley on Oct. 26, which made it difficult for Southern to remain in system. Bradley took advantage, as it squeaked out wins in set one and two before controlling set three for most of the frame to win the match.
Serving up aces
• Southern totaled a season-high 12 aces against the Northern Iowa Panthers on Monday, which were its second-most in a match under head coach Ed Allen.
• It is also the second-most in a five-set Valley match this season and the most for SIU since Oct. 4, 2019.
Leading from the middle
• Southern's middle hitters, Emma Baalman and Imani Hartfield, rank 1-2 in the MVC in hitting percentage.
• Baalman is hitting .330 with just 14 errors on 194 swings while Hartfield hit at a .448 clip in SIU's series against Northern hitting .320 with just 25 errors on 200 attempts.
• SIU and Illinois State are the only two programs with two players ranked in the top-10 of hitting efficiency.Â
• Both Hartfield and Baalman have put down double-digit kills in four matches this season.
• Hartfield currently ranks first among Valley freshmen in hitting percentage, fourth in total kills (89) and fifth in kills per set (2.17).Â
Dishing out helpers
• Rachel Maguire averaged 9.63 assists, 2.38 digs and .63 aces per set in last weekend's series against Northern Iowa.Â
• The senior from Bloomington, Ill. tallied 27 assists, five digs and an ace in Sunday's opener, and followed with 50 assists, 14 digs, four kills and a season-high four aces in Southern's five-set defeat on Monday.Â
• It marked the third time this season that Maguire has finished with 50 or more assists and it was her seventh assist-dig double-double of the season.Â
• She dished out a career-high 59 assists to go along with 16 digs in SIU's win over Valpo on Feb. 14.
• Maguire's 59 assists are the second-most in the MVC this season, and it is the most by a Saluki since Rachel Brown dished out 59 helpers against Evansville on Sept. 30, 2011.
Keeping the ball off the floor
• Katy Kluge averaged 4.25 digs per set in last weekend's series against Northern Iowa.Â
• The junior from Oconomowoc, Wis. finished with 10 digs in Sunday's opener, and tallied 24 digs and a kill in SIU's five-set defeat on Monday.Â
• Kluge has notched double-digit digs in all of SIU's matches this season, which includes five matches with 20 or more digs.
