Southern Illinois University
Valparaiso University
Salukis open MVC play at home against Valpo, Loyola
09/22/2021 | 3:24:00 | Women's Volleyball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University volleyball team opens Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend when it hosts Valparaiso and Loyola inside Davies Gym. The Salukis will take on the Beacons (9-2) on Friday, Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. before taking on the Ramblers (7-5) on Saturday at 5 p.m.
All-time vs. Valparaiso
• The Salukis are 5-6 all-time vs. the Beacons, who joined the MVC prior to the 2017 season.
•Southern won the first-ever MVC meeting between the programs on Sept. 25, a 3-1 victory and won the first-ever meeting between the two programs, a 3-0 win on Sept. 11, 1993.
•The two teams tangled once again at the Saluki Invitational in 2009, as the Salukis won a five-set thriller to finish their home tournament with a 3-0 record.
•The Salukis again faced Valpo with a tournament title on the line in 2012, as the Salukis defeated Valparaiso in straight-sets on Sept. 1, 2012 to win the Billiken Invitational.
•Valpo has since won six of the last seven matches in the series, including a 3-1 win over SIU on Feb. 15.
• SIU posted its first-ever win at Valpo- a five-set victory- on Feb. 14, 2021.
All-time series vs. Loyola
• The Ramblers took an 13-7 edge in the all-time series that dates back to 1984.
• The two teams met just four times prior to Loyola joining the MVC in 2013 with SIU winning three of those four meetings.
• Since then, the Ramblers hold a 12-4 advantage and have won 10-straight in the series.
• Southern's last two wins in the series (10/30/15; 11/1/14) both came in Chicago.
• SIU's last home win over Loyola: 3-1 on Sept. 28, 2013. The 2013 season, which was the Ramblers first season in the Valley, was also the last time that Southern swept the season series.
• The Salukis are 3-8 all-time against the Ramblers on their home floor.
Conference Openers
• The Salukis hold a 14-15 record in conference openers since the Valley began prior to the 1992 season.
• Southern has won six of its last nine conference openers, which includes a 3-2 win at Bradley on Sept. 27, 2019.
Setting position on lock
- Anna Jaworkski continues to deftly pilot SIU's 5-1 offense in her first collegiate volleyball season.
- The Naperville, Ill. native currently ranks third nationally, and first among DI freshmen, in total assists (504) and her 10.68 assists per set average ranks fifth nationally amongst NCAA DI first years.
- Jaworski's career-high 71 assists in SIU's win over UT Martin on Sept. 3 continues to hold the top spot as far as most assists in a DI match this season and her 504 assists through SIU's first 13 matches are the fourth-most by a freshman in program history.
- Jaworski joins Holly Marita (2003), Hannah Kaminsky (2013) and Debbie Barr (1996) as the only freshmen setters in school history to dish out 500-plus assists in their first season.
Acing the competition
- The Salukis currently lead the Valley, and rank 17th nationally, with 84 total aces.
- Southern ranks second in the MVC in aces per set (1.79).
- Five different Salukis are already in double figures for aces on the season, led by Margherita Giani and Katy Kluge with 17 each. Giani and Kluge are tied for third in the conference in total aces.
- Nataly Garcia's six aces in SIU's 3-0 sweep of Mississippi Valley State on Aug. 28 were the most aces by a Saluki since Jennifer Berwanger served up seven at Drake on Nov. 3, 2007. It is tied for the 15th-most in a match in program history.
- SIU's 12 aces in their three-set win over Alabama A&M on Sept. 3 were its most in a three-set match since Sept. 5, 2007, when the Salukis served 13 aces in a win over Western Illinois.
Tornatta earns All-Tournament honors
- Tatum Tornatta earned All-Tournament honors at the Redhawks Invitational after she hit at a .321 clip and averaged 3.0 kills per set.
- She hit no worse than .269 in each of Southern's three matches and put down seven-plus kills in each match.
- Tornatta put down double-digit kills for the seventh time this season, as she tallied 16 kills and three digs against the Golden Hurricane.
Approaching a milestone
- Katy Kluge averaged 5.0 digs and .91 assists per set in SIU's three matches at the Redhawks Invitational.
- The redshirt junior tallied a pair of 20-plus dig performances over the weekend, which included 25 in four sets against Central Arkansas.
- It marked the fourth time already this season, and 13th time in her career, that Kluge has tallied 20-plus digs in a match.
- She now ranks third in the conference in total digs with 204.
- Kluge is now 107 digs shy of becoming the 12th Saluki to record 1,000-plus career digs.
Breakout season underway
- Nsia Gittens continues to make her presence felt on the outside for the Salukis.
- Gittens has put down double figure kills in five of her last six matches, which includes a career-high 18 against Central Arkansas on Sept. 17.
- The Nashville, Tenn. native has tallied eight double-digit kill outputs this season.
Hit for a high %, play solid defense
- SIU is 4-0 this season when hitting above .300 as a team.
- Southern, conversely, is 5-0 when opponents hit .200 or below.
Serving Middle
- Margherita Giani finished with a career-high four aces against Tulsa on Sept. 18.
- It marked the fifth time this season that the Maissana, Italy native has served up multiple aces in a match.
- Giani has also been SIU's most active defender at the net. Her 41 total blocks rank fourth in the MVC and she has tallied multiple blocks in 11 of SIU's 13 matches this season.
Getting More Involved
- Ryan Rednour has been seeing the floor more in the back row for SIU and tallied a career-high 11 digs against Tulsa on Sept. 18.
- Rednour has also served at least one ace in four-straight matches.
