Southern Illinois University
2-10, 1-9MVC
Bradley University
7-3, 7-3MVC
Salukis edged by Braves
03/01/2021 | 7:05:00 | Women's Volleyball
The Southern Illinois University volleyball team dropped a four-set decision (20-25, 13-25, 25-21, 19-25) to the Bradley Braves Monday, March 1 in Missouri Valley Conference play inside Renaissance Coliseum.
The Braves took the first two sets of the match before Southern rallied to take the third set, 25-21. Bradley took control of the fourth set early, and forced SIU to play catch up to no avail.
SIU jumped out to an early 8-6 lead in the first set. Bradley scored four-straight points to take a 10-8 advantage but Southern scored nine of the next 11 points to open up a 17-12 lead. The Braves turned the tables and scored eight of the next nine points to take a 20-18 lead that it never surrendered. Six Salukis recorded a kill in the opening frame.
Bradley scored six of the first seven points in the second set and kept its foot on the pedal from there. A kill by Rachel Maguire got Southern to within four, 8-4 but the Braves ripped off seven of the next eight points to grow their advantage to 10 and cruised from there. Lindsey Paulsen and Taylor Morgan both came off the bench late in the second set to help provide Southern's offense with a spark heading into the third frame.
SIU showed its grit and perseverance in the third frame, as it rallied from being down 14-11 to tie the set, 16-all, capped off by an ace by Maguire. The score was again tied at 18-all until the Salukis used a 5-1 spurt, highlighted by a pair of kills from both Taylor Morgan and Tatum Tornatta, to take a 23-19 edge. From there, Southern rolled to the 25-21 win in set three. The Salukis hit a robust .308 in the set and tallied three aces.Â
The Braves rattled off eight of the first nine points in the fourth set to take control early. Southern cut its deficit to six, 10-4, on Maguire's second kill of the match. After Bradley's lead grew to nine, 14-5, Southern scored five of the next six points to get to within five, 15-10, at the midway point. The Salukis had another run left in them, as they scored four-straight points, which included a pair of kills from Tornatta, to draw to within three, 21-18. But the Braves were too much down the stretch, as they scored four of the final five points to seal the match.
Tornatta put down 13 kills on a career-high .323 hitting percentage. It marked the fifth time already this season that the Evansville, Ind. product has recorded double-digit kills. Morgan, who was a catalyst of Southern's turnaround late in the second set, notched her second kill-dig double-double of the season despite not having played in the first frame. The Crest Hill, Ill. native tallied 11 kills on a career-high .450 hitting percentage with 10 digs.
Emma Baalman hit .316 with eight kills on 19 swings, while Hannah Becker added nine kills and Paulsen chipped in four. Rachel Maguire dished out 44 assists to go along with 17 digs, an ace and two kills, while Katy Kluge finished with a team-best 19 digs, six assists and two aces. Nine different Salukis recorded a kill in the match.
The Salukis return home next weekend to host the Indiana State Sycamores. Sunday's match is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start time while Monday's tilt will get underway at 3 p.m.
