Southern Illinois University
7-3,0-0MVC
UT Martin
2-7,0-0OVC
Salukis Sweep UT Martin to Open Saluki Invite
09/14/2023 | 9:48:00 | Women's Volleyball
Carbondale, Ill. - Southern Illinois defeated UT Martin Thursday evening in the opening match of the 2023 Saluki Invitational. The Salukis swept the Skyhawks (25-20, 25-10, 25-23) for their second sweep of the season as they improved to 7-3 with one non-conference match remaining.Â
SIU was able to get out to a quick start by hitting .382 and .500 in the first two frames as they finished the night with a season-high .344 hitting percentage on 41 kills. Tatum Tornatta led the Salukis with 11 kills while hitting for a career-high .688. Tatum surpassed the century mark in total kills in 2023 as she's just 47 away from reaching 1000 career kills.Â
The Salukis trailed 0-1 to begin the second set and would go on to lead for the rest after the game after taking a 2-1 lead. SIU won the set by its largest margin this year (15) as they held the Skyhawks to just five kills.Â
Southern's defense was stifling in the win, holding UT Martin to only 21 kills and a season-low .090 hitting percentage. Tornatta led with four total blocks including one solo, followed by Vienna Elliott who got her hands on a trio of blocks and Nataly Garcia with two block assists and one solo stuff.Â
Cecilia Bulmahn led the Salukis for the third straight match with 12 digs, averaging four per set with no errors.Â
SIU only tallied four aces in the match, two of which came from freshman Ema Stermenska who now totals 20 on the year. Stermenska's second ace broke a 23-23 tie during the third set to give the Dawgs a one point lead coming out of a Skyhawk timeout. Following Stermenska's ace, Kelly Franklin would go on to put down the match-winning kill on an assist from Stermenska. Stermska totaled 15 assists on the night as Anna Jaworski led with 19.
The Salukis are back in the Banterra Center for their final match of the season there before moving into conference play. Southern Illinois will take on Oakland University Saturday morning for an 11am start.
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on Twitter at @SIU_Volleyball, on Instagram at @SIU_Volleyball and on Facebook at Facebook.com/SalukiVolleyball. Fans can also download the "Salukis" Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.
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