Southern Illinois University
2-18,1-17MVC
Illinois State University
13-5,11-3MVC
Salukis fall to Redbirds on Senior Day
03/28/2021 | 6:19:00 | Women's Volleyball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University volleyball team fell to the first-place Illinois State Redbirds, 3-0 (14-25, 14-25, 18-25) on Senior Day inside Davies Gym.
Illinois State was determined to clinch the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title on Sunday, as it hit .398 on the day, which included at a .533 clip in its set one win.
SIU was led by its six seniors - Emma Baalman, Hannah Becker, Kyra Hunter, Rachel Maguire, Lindsey Paulsen and Savannah Sheridan, who were playing in the final home match of their Saluki careers. Baalman finished with six kills and three blocks while Maguire tallied 25 assists and eight digs. Sheridan put down four kills while Paulsen chipped in a kill and a block. Becker tallied four kills and a block and Hunter added three kills and a block of her own.
Illinois State scored seven of the first nine points of the first set. Southern got to within three, 12-9, on a kill by Sheridan but the Redbirds ran off four-straight points to push their lead back to seven. A kill by Becker cut SIU's deficit to five, 18-13, but that was as close as it could get.
The Redbirds again ripped off eight of the first 10 points of the second set to build a comfortable cushion. Southern scored three-straight to get to within three, 8-5, but Illinois State answered with seven of the next nine points to put the set out of reach.
Southern hung around early in the third set, as it used a 4-1 spurt to take a 5-3 lead. A block by Becker and Baalman again gave SIU the lead at 7-6 but Illinois State countered with six of the next seven points to make it 12-8. A kill by Imani Hartfield again kept SIU to within four points of Illinois State at 20-16, but the Redbirds scored five of the next seven points to seal the sweep.
SIU concludes the 2020-21 spring season with a 2-18 record.
