Southern Illinois University
2-13, 1-12MVC
University of Evansville
4-11, 3-10MVC
Salukis fall in four to Purple Aces
03/14/2021 | 8:32:00 | Women's Volleyball
The Southern Illinois University volleyball team lost in four sets (25-18, 21-25, 12-25, 13-25) to the Evansville Purple Aces in Missouri Valley Conference play inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse Monday.
After it dropped the first two sets, Southern rallied to take a back and forth third set in extra frames, 27-25. SIU's offense sputtered in the fourth, as Evansville gained early separation and forced Southern to try to play catch up for the remainder of the frame. While the Salukis staved off four set points to get to within two, 24-22, but the Aces got the side out point it needed to take the match.
Southern served aggressively, at times to its detriment. The Salukis notched eight aces but also had 10 service errors.
The first set went back and forth, with neither team leading by more than two before the midway point. A kill by Alex Washington tied set one at 15-all but the Purple Aces answered with four of the next five points to go ahead 19-15.Evansville kept its lead at at least four for the remainder of the opening set. Six different Salukis totaled 13 kills in the opening frame led by four from Imani Hartfield.
Set two played out in a similar matter as the first as Hartfield tied the frame at 10-all with back-to-back kills. Neither team led by more than two before the midway point of the second set. Evansville broke an 18-all tie with four-straight points to gain separation and force a Saluki timeout. Southern got within three twice, but that was as close as they could get.
The Aces scored three of the first four points of set three and appeared to have momentum on their side before Southern mounted a furious rally. Down 17-14, Southern chipped away to tie the frame at 20-all. Neither team gained more than a one-point edge before a double block by Emma Baalman and Rachel Maguire gave SIU a 26-25 edge. Hartfield got the final termination to secure SIU's 27-25 win.
The fourth set was another highly-contested battle, as the lead see-sawed back and forth throughout the first 20 points, with neither team leading by more than one. The Aces used a 4-0 spurt to break an 11-all tie and never looked back. Southern made it interesting late, as it staved off three-straight set points before Evansville took the set and the match.
The Salukis had excellent balance offensively, as four hitters finished with double figure kills. Alex Washington tallied her third kill-dig double-double of the season with 15 kills and 15 digs. Emma Baalman hit at a .407 clip with 11 kills and no errors on 27 swings. Southern's other middle, Imani Hartfield, put down 13 kills and hit .281. Taylor Morgan added 12 kills and five digs. Rachel Maguire dished out 43 assists and dug out 18 balls.
Defensively, SIU had four players with double-digit digs, which included both Maguire and Washington. Katy Kluge tallied 17 digs, two assists and two aces while MacKenzie Houser chipped in 15 digs and an ace.
Southern and Evansville will tangle for round two tomorrow at 6 p.m.
