Southern Illinois University
7-5,0-0MVC
Bellarmine
6-6,0-0ASUN
Salukis fall in five sets to Knights
09/17/2022 | 4:38:00 | Women's Volleyball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois University volleyball fell in five sets (25-23, 25-21, 24-26, 23-25, 25-27) to the Bellarmine Knights to close out play at the Saluki Invitational Saturday.
SIU clawed its way back from being down six at the midway of the first set to take the opener, 25-23. Southern roared out to a 9-3 lead in the second set and never trailed after that. The Salukis hit .333 in the frame. A tense, back and forth, third set broke late in favor of the Knights. Bellarmine did it again in the fourth set, as they used a 4-1 spurt to break a 20-all tie and held on for a 25-23 win to force a decisive fifth set. The fifth set was an absolute battle, as both teams battled through 12 set points before the Knights completed the comeback with a 27-25 win.
Four Salukis put down double-digit kills against the Knights. Ceci Bulmahn posted her fourth career kill-dig double-double with 15 kills and 15 digs while Imani Hartfield added 13 kills. Tatum Tornatta tallied 15 kills and seven blocks. Brinley Burdette chipped in a career-high 10 kills and hit at a .421 clip, while Kelly Franklin, who entered the match in the fourth set, put down eight kills on 19 swings.
Career Highs
• Several Salukis set or tied career-bests in the loss to the Knights.
• Claudia Bobb served a career-high three aces.
• Ceci Bulmahn tied her career-best with 15 kills.
• Brinley Burdette set a career-high in kills for the third-straight match. She put down 10 kills to go along with a career-best eight blocks.
• Tatum Tornatta blocked a career-best seven attempts.
Notable Numbers
10 | SIU served 10 aces, which marked the second time this season that Southern has served double-digit aces.
10 | Southern tied its season-high with 10 blocks.
Up Next
SIU opens conference play at Murray State on Friday, Sept. 23 at 6 p.m.
