Southern Illinois University
2-14, 1-13MVC
University of Evansville
5-11, 4-10MVC
Salukis drop three-setter to Aces
03/15/2021 | 8:28:00 | Women's Volleyball
The Southern Illinois University volleyball team fell in three sets (21-25, 17-25, 18-25) to the Evansville Purple Aces Monday night in Missouri Valley Conference play inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.
The Salukis battled tough in the first half of each of Monday's three sets, but were seemingly caught in a rotation at some point in each of the three sets that allowed Evansville to score in bunches and gain much needed separation. Southern limited its mistakes from the service line, as it had just four service errors. The Salukis, however, tallied 19 attack errors- their second-most in a three-set match this season.Â
Imani Hartfield led the Saluki attack, as she hit at a .353 clip with eight kills on 17 swings. Emma Baalman and Taylor Morgan each added seven kills while Hannah Becker put down six kills after she entered the match in the second frame. Rachel Maguire dished out 36 assists to SIU's hitters and added 10 digs.
Defensively, Southern was once again led by Katy Kluge, who finished with 15 digs. Alex Washington added seven digs, five kills and an ace while Ryan Rednour dug out six balls and served an ace.
Southern used a 4-1 spurt to turn a one-point lead (6-5) into a four-point advantage (10-6). The Aces countered with five of the next six points to tie it at 11-all and used another 5-1 run to build a 16-12 advantage. The Salukis got to within three, 17-14, on Washington's fourth kill of the first set but the Aces used a 4-1 run to go ahead, 21-15. SIU clawed its way back, to get to within two (23-21) after a 3-0 run sparked by a kill by Tatum Tornatta. The Aces, however, got the two kills it needed to close out the frame and take a 1-0 lead.
Neither team led by more than two before UE scored back-to-back points to go ahead 10-8. An ace by Ryan Rednour capped off a 3-0 run to give Southern an 11-10 lead. The Aces responded with a 3-0 spurt of their own to take a 13-11 advantage and later grew their lead to four, 17-13. Becker's fourth kill got SIU to within three, 17-14, but Evansville again pushed its lead back to five. Back-to-back kills by Hartfield and Baalman cut SIU's deficit to three, 19-16, but Evansville ripped off five-straight points to seal the set win.
The third set was a back-and-forth affair as neither team led by more than two before the midway point. After Evansville took a 15-13 lead into the media timeout, Southern responded with a kill by Hartfield to draw to within one. The Aces snuffed out Southern's rally and rattled off six-straight points to take a seven point lead that stood up.
The Salukis will next travel to Des Moines, Iowa to take on the Drake Bulldogs for their final road trip of the 2020-21 season. Sunday's match is slated to begin at 2 p.m.
