Southern Illinois University
5-5,0-0MVC
Alabama State University
0-9,0-0SWAC
Salukis close out weekend with sweep of Alabama State
09/11/2021 | 5:12:00 | Women's Volleyball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois volleyball team closed out the Saluki Invitational with a straight-sets win over Alabama State, winning by set scores of 25-15, 25-15, 25-10 inside Banterra Center.Â
Southern improved to 7-0 all-time against Southwest Conference schools with the win over Alabama State, who despite welcoming 12 newcomers to the program this season, were picked to finish second in the league's annual preseason poll.
The Salukis never trailed in their win over the Lady Hornets and played well in all facets of the game Saturday. Southern hit .354, its second-best hitting percentage this season, and served 10 aces, which marked the second match this season in which SIU has finished with double-digit aces. Southern was even better in serve receive, as the Salukis tied a season-low by giving up just two aces.
"I thought we played a really complete game," head coach Ed Allen said. "There wasn't anything that overwhelmed us. Alabama State struggled with serve receive and first ball contacts and that spun things out of control for them. They have some athleticism that, quite frankly, if they had good first or second ball contacts we would've had our hands full with how athletic they are. They're a young team, much like us. They've got a lot of freshmen and sophomores playing but they will still do quite well once they get into league play because they are consistently one of the top-two teams in the SWAC."
Southern's first ball contacts were a major reason that the Salukis were able to sideout at a 73.8-percent (31-of-42) clip. SIU's superb first ball contacts also allowed Anna Jaworski to push the ball to the pins and get more hitters involved. Seven different Salukis recorded a kill, which included three with at least eight kills. Jaworski finished with 28 assists and three aces before being lifted in the third set.
SIU's pin hitters were forced to pick up the slack due to an injury to its leading hitter, Imani Hartfield, and did so admirably. Nsia Gittens led the Salukis in kills for the second-straight match. The Nashville, Tenn. native set career-highs in both kills (16) and hitting percentage (.483) in the victory and has now put down double-digit kills in three-straight matches. Tatum Tornatta occupied the other pin and hit .429 with 11 kills on 21 swings. Averi Vanderzille, making her second career start in the middle, tallied three kills and a block.
"We did a really good job of keeping the game clean, especially with our first ball contacts," Allen said. "When you deal with a team that is as young as Alabama State is, you can end up with a lot of inconsistencies with how you receive balls back but I thought we did a nice job of improving the ball each opportunity we had. We had great balance. Nsia had another strong match and led us for the second-straight match in kills. Tatum has done a terrific job on the right side for us and has all season and she continues to be one of the cornerstones of our team's offense. We are trying to re-identify this team after losing Imani Hartfield for an undetermined period of time and Averi did a good job of managing the balls she got and she provided us with a great block."
Katy Kluge led the way defensively with 16 digs to go along with four aces and four assists. It marked the second-straight match in which the Oconomowoc, Wis. native has finished with four aces. Nataly Garcia added five digs to go along with eight kills and two aces. With the match well in hand, Allen and his staff were able to turn to their bench, as 14 different Salukis played in the win.Â
"Our team played so consistent that we were able to get playing time for people who have, quite frankly, worked hard to get it," Allen said. "So that was nice to be able to reward them."
The Salukis are back in action next weekend at the Redhawks Invitational, hosted by SEMO. Southern will take on Tulsa, Central Arkansas and the Redhawks during the two-day event, which gets underway Friday, Sept. 17 at 1 p.m.
