2022 Saluki Volleyball Season Preview

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois University volleyball team gets the 2022 season underway Friday, Aug. 26 with its season opener against SIUE at 6 p.m. inside Banterra Center. The Salukis will then host Grambling State on Saturday, Aug. 27 at 1 p.m. to close out its home-opening weekend.

The Salukis return a solid nucleus of young talent that continues to get better each day under the guidance of fourth-year head coach Ed Allen. 10 letter winners from a year ago are back, which include five who started at least 10 matches in 2021.

"We are going to approach this season just like any match in the sense we want to play hard, play smart and play together," Allen said. "We are looking to grow as a team as we move through that. We've got a lot of young players that are going to see significant playing time. We also have a lot of returners who have developed considerably during this past offseason so what I'm hoping to see is a product on the court that is the best it has been since I got here."

Allen and his new-look coaching staff returned to basics in the lead up to the 2022 season. Jessica Whitehead, who finished her Saluki career ranked in the top-10 in career kills, begins her first season as a Saluki assistant coach as does Donna Day, who arrives in Carbondale with 14 seasons of collegiate coaching experience, including 12 as a head coach. Katy Kluge, who last season became just the 12th player in program history to reach the 1,000 career dig plateau, returns as a graduate assistant coach. Southern has put an added emphasis on defense as well as ball control as it looks to turn the page on the 2021 season.

"Defensively we have gotten better," Allen said. "We have gotten better at taking care of the ball. Our ball control in general has gotten a lot better. We've got some newcomers who can ball control as well as any kid that I've had here."

Southern's returners are led by Tatum Tornatta, Nataly Garcia and Anna Jaworski. Tornatta finished 11th in the MVC in total kills (316) and put down double-digit kills in 16 matches, which included a season-high 18 in a four-set match against Loyola on Sept. 25. Garcia, meanwhile, averaged the eighth-most kills per set (3.26) in the Valley a year ago while Jaworski had one of the best statistical seasons by a freshman setter in program history. The trio started all 31 matches for the Salukis a year ago and gained valuable floor experience, despite, at times, the frustrating results on the court.

"The core coming back from last year's team experienced a lot of frustration," Allen said. "That can be great fuel as you move through the offseason and it clearly was given how they improved dramatically in their skill development. As we look to put that together as a team, we will see a team that has a little bit more versatility offensively and more players that can do different things with the ball."

SIU's 10 returners are aided by one of the most talented crops of newcomers to come through Davies Gym in quite some time. Ceci Buhlman, Kelly Franklin, Claudia Bobb, Brinley Burdette and Annabelle Sulish make up a freshman class that Allen lovingly calls the "Fab Five" in reference to the program-altering 1991 University of Michigan men's basketball recruiting class that is often considered as the greatest recruiting class of all-time. Three of Southern's five newcomers are second-generation DI athletes and both Buhlman and Franklin have siblings currently playing DI volleyball.

"The five we have brought in I refer to as the 'Fab Five'," Allen said. "They really are a special group. They are really tight together, as they have very similar personalities. We will start three of those five and play at least four of them throughout the course of the year. They are talented players that will help us grow the program into what it is capable of being."

Southern faired well in its lone dress rehearsal of the 2022 season, as it downed St. Louis in five sets on Aug. 17. 13 different Salukis played in the win over the Billikens, who were picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic 10 after going 18-12 a year ago. Southern opens its 2022 conference slate at Murray State on Sept. 23.

Match Notes

Scouting the Cougars

SIUE lost in five sets to Kansas City in its only exhibition match of the 2022 season on August 20.
The Cougars went 6-23 (3-15 OVC) a year ago and finished ninth in the Ohio Valley Conference.
SIUE was picked to finish seventh in the 2022 OVC preseason poll.
Head coach Kendall Paulus returns for her fifth season as head coach, and 11th season overall at SIUE.
SIUE returns its top-two attackers from a year ago in Julia Treichel and Savannah Christian.
Treichel led the Cougars with 241 kills in 2021 while Christian was second with 224.
SIUE's setter, Alyse Drifka, returns as well after a season in which she dished out 642 assists and served 29 aces.

All-time vs. the Cougars

Friday's matchup will mark the third all-time meeting between the sister schools.
The two sides have split the previous two meetings. The Salukis defeated the Cougars in five sets during the 2011 season and the Cougars returned the favor with a four-set win in the most recent meeting between the two programs in 2019.

Scouting Grambling State

Grambling State finished fifth in the SWAC a year ago with an 11-17 record, which included an 8-8 record in conference play.
The Lady Tigers were picked to finish 10th in the SWAC preseason poll after a considerable amount of offseason turnover.
Paige Phillips begins her first season as head coach. Phillips spent the previous four seasons as an assistant at North Carolina Central.
The Lady Tigers have a host of new faces- of the 21 student-athletes on their 2022 roster, only one, Sheila Borders, played for Grambling State a year ago. Borders finished second on the team with 223 assists.

All-time vs. the Lady Tigers

Saturday's matchup will serve as the first-ever meeting between Grambling State and SIU.

Faired well against the SWAC

The Salukis hold a perfect 7-0 all-time record against SWAC opponents.
SIU has knocked off a SWAC program in three of the last four seasons, which includes a 3-0 record against the SWAC in 2021.
Southern hasn't dropped a set to a SWAC school since Sept. 14, 2019.

Season Openers

The Salukis are 27-21 all-time in season openers. Southern's last win in its season opener came during the 2018 season in which the Salukis downed IUPUI in four sets on Aug. 24, 2018.

Looking for a fresh start

Southern is looking for a win in its season opener for the first time since 2018. The Salukis haven't started 2-0 since 2016, which was also the last time they began a season with three-straight wins. The 2016 Salukis won their first three-straight matches to claim the IUPUI Tournament title.

Last time we started 1-0 - 8/24/2018 (3-1 win over IUPUI)

Last time we started 2-0 - 8/27/2016 (3-0 win over Duquesne)

Getting it done in the classroom

The Salukis received the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for their performance in the classroom during the 2021-22 academic year. It marked the 17th-straight season in which the Salukis have earned the honor, which is the fifth-longest active streak in NCAA Division I.

Setting the tone for year two

Anna Jaworski returns for her sophomore season after one of the best statistical seasons by a freshman setter in program history.
With her 29 assists at Drake on Nov. 6, 2021 Jaworski became just the third freshman in program history, and first since 2013, to reach the 1,000-assist plateau during their first season on campus.
Jaworski joined Debbie Barr and Hannah Kaminsky as the only three Saluki first-years to accomplish the feat.

Lots of floor experience returning

Nataly Garcia, Tatum Tornatta and Anna Jaworski all return after playing in all 31 matches for the Salukis a year ago.
Southern returns five players who played in at least 23 matches in 2021.

More on Garcia

Finished seventh in the MVC in points per set (3.59) and eighth in kills per set (3.20)
She put down double-digit kills in 19 matches, which included three matches with 20-plus kills.
Tallied 12 kill-dig double-doubles.
Garcia's six aces in SIU's win over Mississippi Valley State (8/28) were the most aces by a Saluki since Jennifer Berwanger served up seven at Drake on Nov. 3, 2007 and was tied for the 15th-most in a match in program history.

More on Tornatta

Finished 11th in the MVC in total kills (316).
Put down double-digit kills in 16 matches, which included a season-high 18 against Loyola (9/25)
Hit over .350 seven times, which included a season-best .532 in SIU's sweep of Mississippi Valley State (8/28).

Back in the middle

Imani Hartfield is back in the middle for the Salukis after an injury limited her to just seven matches in 2021.
Hartfield finished the 2020-21 season ranked third in the MVC, and first among freshmen, in hitting percentage (.288).
The Sanford, Fla. native hit .300 or better in 10 of the 19 matches she played in during the 2020-21 season.

Good Pedigree

Ceci Buhlman, Kelly Franklin, Claudia Bobb, Brinley Burdette and Annabelle Sulish make up SIU's talented crop of newcomers.
Three of Southern's five newcomers are second-generation DI athletes and both Buhlman and Franklin have siblings currently playing DI volleyball.
Buhlman's dad, Eric, was a middle at Ball State while her mother, Monica, starred at IUPUI. Both of Ceci's sisters, Jaclyn and Victoria, have played DI volleyball as Jaclyn played at both Valparaiso and Ball State while Victoria was the 2020-21 MVC Freshman of the Year at Valpo.
Burdette's father, Sean, is the head volleyball coach at Memphis and played on the men's volleyball club team at Ohio State in the 90s. Brinley's mom, Jacqueline, played DI tennis at South Florida.
Franklin's father, Todd, played club volleyball at Georgia Tech and her mother, Michelle, played volleyball at Virginia. Kelly's older sister, Sarah, recently transferred from Michigan State to Wisconsin and has three seasons of eligibility remaining.
Bobb started at libero in SIU's exhibition match against St. Louis and finished with a team-high 22 digs.

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Claudia Bobb

Brinley Burdette

Kelly Franklin

Nataly Garcia

Imani Hartfield

Anna Jaworski

Annabelle Sulish

Tatum Tornatta

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