Salukis travel to Bradley, Illinois State this weekend

The Southern Illinois University volleyball team opens its conference road slate this weekend when it travels to Bradley on Friday, Oct. 1 (6 p.m.) followed by a trip to Bloomington, Ill. to tangle with the defending MVC Champion Illinois State Redbirds on Saturday, Oct. 2 (5 p.m.). The Braves (5-8, 1-1 MVC) come into Friday's showdown following a four-set win over Drake on Sept. 25, while the Redbirds (5-9, 1-1 MVC) hung on for a five-set win over the UNI Panthers on Sept. 25 in their most recent match. The Salukis, meanwhile, are searching for their first Valley win of the season after it dropped a pair of contests to Valparaiso and Loyola to open conference play last weekend.

All-Time vs. Bradley

The Braves and the Salukis will meet for the 71st time Saturday in a series that dates back to 1975.
SIU leads the all-time series, 46-24, which includes a 21-13 record against Bradley in Peoria.
Bradley swept the season series a year ago with a pair of four-set wins.
Southern's last win over the Braves in Peoria came on Sept. 27, 2019 with a five-set win that featured several weather related delays.
The Salukis have won five of the last eight meetings between the two sides in Peoria dating back to the 2012 season.

All-Time vs. Illinois State

• The Salukis and the Redbirds will meet for the 91st time in a series that dates back to 1975.

• Illinois State holds a commanding 76-13-1 lead in the all-time series, which includes a 32-4 all-time record vs. the Salukis in Normal.

• Southern's last road win over Illinois State came in 2016- a 3-2 win on Nov. 4, 2016.

• The Redbirds have won eight of the last nine matches in the series.

Ranked Nationally

Anna Jaworkski's 580 total assists are the sixth-most nationally and the most among NCAA DI freshmen.
Jaworski's 10.55 assists per set average, meanwhile, are the sixth-most among NCAA DI freshmen.
As far as Saluki freshmen records go, Jaworksi's 580 assists through 15 matches already ranks her fourth in school history. Debbie Barr-Rednour, mother of SIU's Ryan Rednour, holds the SIU freshman record with 1433 assists in 1996.

Family Ties

Rednour isn't the only Saluki to follow in her mother's footsteps.
Anna Jaworski, SIU's starting setter, is the daughter of Helen (Malina) Jaworski, who played both volleyball and badminton at SIU. Anna is the fourth member of her immediate family to play collegiate volleyball. Her father, John, played at Purdue Fort Wayne, while her brother, John, is a junior at Daemen College, where he is a defensive specialist for the Wildcats.

Getting more acclimated

Margherita Giani, who appeared briefly in just one set during the Spring 2021 season, has taken over the role of SIU's serving middle.
The Massiani, Italy native has tallied 22 kills, five aces and nine blocks in her last three matches (12 sets).
Giani is tied for the league lead with 18 aces and ranks seventh in the league in total blocks (46).
Giani has taken on a larger role in the offense due to the injury of Imani Hartfield, who was leading the MVC in hitting percentage before she went down.

Breakout sophomore season

Tatum Tornatta, who put down double-digit kills in five matches during the spring season, tied her career-high with 18 kills on .485 hitting against Loyola on Sept. 25.
Tornatta has tallied double figure kills in nine of SIU's 15 matches this season.
The Evansville, Ind. native has also been adept at changing up her shots to find open holes on the floor- she has hit over .300 in eight matches, which includes five matches in which she has hit over .400.

Filling in

Due to an injury to Imani Hartfield, freshman Averi Vanderzille has been thrust into the spotlight in the middle.
Vanderzille has notched at least one block in all seven matches that she has appeared, which includes a season-high five against Loyola on Sept. 25.
The Carterville, Ill. native also tied her season-best with three kills and hit at a .429 clip against the Ramblers.

Swinging from anywhere

Nataly Garcia ranks third in the Valley in total kills (170) and has proven to be Southern's go-to hitter.
Garcia has put down at least 10 kills in seven matches this season, which includes a career-best 22 in SIU's five-set win over UT Martin on Sept. 3.
The Coamo, Puerto Rico native has tallied four kill-dig double-doubles this season as well.
The junior college transfer from Navarro College, who led the NJCAA with .73 aces per set in 2020, is tied for fourth in the MVC in total aces with 16. She has served at least one ace in eight of SIU's 15 matches this season.
Her 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.

Picking up where she left off

Katy Kluge averaged 4.38 digs and 1.13 assists per set in SIU's two matches last weekend.
The Oconomowoc, Wis. native has notched double-digit digs in 12 of SIU's 15 matches and has reached 20-plus digs in five matches this season.
The redshirt junior is now 72 digs shy of becoming the 12th Saluki to record 1,000-plus career digs.

Pin hitter secured

Nsia Gittens set a career-high with 18 kills against Central Arkansas on Sept. 17.
Gittens has now put down double-digit kills in nine matches this season and in six of SIU's last eight matches.

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 five of the last six matches, which included a career-best four aces against Loyola on Sept. 25.

Acing the competition

The Salukis currently lead the Valley, and rank 27th nationally, with 93 total aces.
Southern ranks second in the MVC in aces per set (1.69).
Six different Salukis are already in double figures for aces on the season, led by Margherita Giani and Katy Kluge with 18 each.
Giani and Kluge are tied for the league lead in total aces.

Good First Pass

Southern tied its season-low with just two receiving errors in the win over Alabama State on Sept. 11.
The Salukis have given up just two aces in three matches already this season- all of which were wins.
Southern's two aces allowed were its fewest in a match in the Ed Allen era.

Hit for high % = win

Southern has hit over .300 in four matches this season, which includes a season-high .375 in a sweep of Mississippi Valley State on Aug. 28.
The Salukis are 4-0 when hitting over .300 this season and have hit at least .200 in all five of their wins.
Conversely, SIU is 0-9 this season when opponents hit .200 or better.

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Players Mentioned

Nataly Garcia

Margherita Giani

Nsia Gittens

Imani Hartfield

Anna Jaworski

Katy Kluge

Ryan Rednour

Tatum Tornatta

Averi Vanderzille

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