Volleyball hosts Saluki Invitational to close out non-conference play

CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University volleyball team returns to Banterra Center this weekend to host the Saluki Invitational. Southern welcomes Alabama A&M, SEMO, and Bellarmine for the two-day event, which begins on Friday, Sept. 16. The Salukis are coming off a weekend in which they took home the Central Arkansas Invitational team title, their first team title since 2016, after they went 2-1 with wins over Louisiana Tech and ULM. SIU has won four of its last five matches coming into this weekend.

Full Schedule

Friday, Sept. 16
10 a.m. - Alabama A&M vs. SIU
12 p.m. - SEMO vs. Bellarmine
4 p.m. - Alabama A&M vs. Bellarmine
7 p.m. - SEMO vs. SIU

Saturday, Sept. 17
11 a.m. - Alabama A&M vs. SEMO
1 p.m. - SIU vs. Bellarmine

Scouting Alabama A&M

The Bulldogs have struggled to open the 2022 season, as they are 1-10 and have won just four sets all season.
Alabama A&M welcomed 13 freshmen to the fold prior to the 2022 season.
Opponents are hitting a robust .278 against the Bulldogs while Alabama A&M is hitting at a .080 clip.
Bailey Duckett leads the Bulldogs in both kills per set (2.56) and total attacks (307).
The Bulldogs were tabbed to finish seventh in the 2022 SWAC Preseason Poll.

All-time vs. the Bulldogs

The Salukis and the Bulldogs will meet for the fourth time Friday.
Southern leads the all-time series, 3-0. All three wins have come in Carbondale.
SIU swept Alabama A&M in three sets in 2018 and in 2021. The Salukis downed the Bulldogs in four sets in 2019.

Scouting SEMO

The Redhawks are 4-5 on the season after it lost two of three at last weekend's UNI Invitational.
SEMO was picked to finish second in the 2022 OVC Preseason Poll for the second-straight season.
Outside hitter Zoey Beasley, libero Tara Beilsmith, and rightside hitter Colby Greene were all selected to the 2022 Preseason All-OVC Team.
SEMO won the 2021 OVC regular season and tournament titles to advance to the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
The Redhawks lead the OVC, and rank 25th nationally, with a 16.31 digs per set average. Tara Beilsmith ranks second nationally with a 6.03 digs per set average.

All-time vs. the Redhawks

Southern holds a 25-13 all-time record over SEMO dating back to the 1975 season.
The Salukis have won five of the last seven and nine of the last 12 meetings over the Redhawks. SEMO won the most recent meeting- a 3-0 win on Sept. 7, 2021.
SIU won the most recent meeting in Carbondale- a 3-2 win on Sept. 10, 2019.

All-time vs. the Ohio Valley Conference

Southern is 88-37 (.702) all-time versus current OVC schools.
The Salukis have won 23 of their last 29 matches against Ohio Valley schools dating back to 2006.

Scouting Bellarmine

Bellarmine begins its third year of transitioning to DI in 2022 and currently holds a 3-6 record.
The Knights are under the direction of first-year head coach Rick Nold. Nold, who was at Auburn from 2011-20, and Ed Allen have history dating back to their days in the SEC. Allen holds an 9-5 record over Nold's teams dating all the way back to when Allen was at Tulsa and Nold was at Jacksonville State.
Bellarmine was picked to finish 13th (out of 14) in the 2022 ASUN Preseason Poll.
This will mark the first-ever meeting between SIU and Bellarmine.
SIU is 11-5 all-time against current ASUN Conference programs. Southern's last win over a ASUN school came on Sept. 14, 2013- a 3-1 win over Eastern Kentucky.

Winning is becoming a habit

SIU won 11-straight sets from Sept. 2-Sept. 9, which included three-straight sweeps. It was Southern's longest set winning streak since 2012.
All five of SIU's wins this season have come in three sets.
SIU's five sweeps are its most in a single season since 2016.

Central Arkansas Invitational Champs

The Salukis went 2-1 at the Central Arkansas Invitational and won the team title on a tiebreaker (sets record vs. common opponent).
The team title was SIU's first since winning the IUPUI Invitational to kick-start the 2016 season.

Serving Up Aces

SIU finished with a season-high 11 aces against Central Arkansas on Sept. 10, six of which came in the first set. Six Salukis served at least one ace, including three with multiple aces.
Southern's 11 aces were its most since Sept. 3, 2021. (W, 3-0 vs. Alabama A&M)
SIU's 1.91 aces per set and its 61 total both rank second in the Valley.

More on aces

Bailey Neuberger tallied seven aces last weekend, which included a career-high tying four aces against Central Arkansas.
She served at least one ace in each of SIU's three matches at the UCA Invitational.
Neuberger's 12 aces through eight matches this season have more than doubled her career total. She came into the 2022 season with 11 career aces in 22 career matches.

Hitting at a high clip

The Salukis have hit over .200 in seven of its nine matches this season, which includes a season-best .425 in the win over Southern on Sept. 2.
Southern hit over .200 in just seven matches during the entire 2021 season.
SIU's .425 hitting efficiency marked the best SIU has hit in a match since hitting .441 in a victory over Evansville on Oct. 5, 2012.
It was just the fifth match in the last 10 years that the Salukis have hit .400 or better in.
The Salukis currently lead the Valley with a .248 hitting percentage.

Making the change

The Salukis and head coach Ed Allen went from running a 6-2 to a 5-1 and the move has paid off.
Southern has been 5-2 since the switch and currently ranks second in the Valley, and 24th nationally, with a 12.78 assists per set average.
SIU also ranks second in the Valley, and 23rd nationally, with its 13.88 kills per set average.
Southern's primary setter Anna Jaworski ranks third in the Valley with a 10.06 assists per set average. Jaworski's 322 total assists so far this season are the fifth-most in the Valley.

Hitting the century mark

Tatum Tornatta became the first Saluki this season to reach the century mark for kills with her seven in the win over ULM. She now has 104 kills on the season.
The Evansville, Ind. native has put down double-digit kills in six of SIU's nine matches and has hit over .300 in five matches so far this season.
Tornatta's .336 hitting percentage is the fourth-best in the Valley.

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