Southern Illinois University
5-10,0-2MVC
Loyola University Chicago
9-5,2-0MVC
Salukis battle but fall to Ramblers
09/25/2021 | 7:44:00 | Women's Volleyball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University volleyball team dropped a four-set battle (26-24, 23-25, 16-25, 27-29) to the Loyola Ramblers Saturday night inside Davies Gym.
Three Salukis reached double figures in kills in the loss. Tatum Tornatta tied her career-high with 18 kills and hit at a .485 clip. Nsia Gittens added 14 kills while Nataly Garcia posted her fifth kill-dig double-double of the season with 15 kills and 17 digs. Southern's 'big three' accounted for 87-percent of SIU's kills on the night.
Defensively, Katy Kluge led the way with 25 digs, three assists and an ace. Anna Jaworski tallied 44 assists, six digs and a kill while Ryan Rednour finished with six digs and a career-best four aces.
SIU scored seven of the first eight points of the first set before Loyola used four-straight points to cut its deficit to two, 9-7. Southern later pushed its advantage to four, 16-12. Loyola answered with four of the next five to get to within one, but a kill by Giani sparked another Saluki run that saw SIU push its lead back to four, 21-17 and force Loyola to use its second timeout. The Ramblers did not go away quietly, as they scored four-straight points to tie the frame at 21-all. Southern, however, kept its composure and took the frame, 26-24.
The Salukis appeared as if they were going to run away with the second set, as they hit at a .368 clip and got out to a six-point lead at 22-16. The Ramblers, however, had other plans, as they scored nine of the final 10 points to take the set and tie the set score at 1-all. With momentum on their side, Loyola scored six of the first seven points of the third set and never trailed to take a 2-1 lead.
In a fourth frame that featured four lead changes and nine ties, SIU used a 6-1 run to turn what was a one-point lead into a five-point advantage at 11-6. The Salukis lead remained at least three until Loyola scored four-straight points to tie the frame at 13-all. From there, the lead teetered back and forth with SIU taking a three-point lead at 18-15. But the pesky Ramblers rallied back with four of the next five points to tie the frame at 19-all and eventually outlasted the Salukis to take the frame, 29-27 and seal the win.
The Salukis are back in action next weekend when they travel to Peoria, Ill. to take on the Bradley Braves on Friday, Oct. 1 at 6 p.m.
