Preview | Southern Illinois visits Oakland for Golden Grizzly Invite

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7 PM

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4 PM

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11 AM

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CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois Women's Volleyball heads to Rochester, Mich., this Friday to compete in the Golden Grizzly Invite.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE (All times Central):

Friday: at Oakland, 9 a.m.
Friday: vs. Eastern Michigan, 4 p.m.
Saturday: vs. Xavier, 11 a.m.

SERIES HISTORY:

The Salukis hold a 2-1 advantage over Oakland, with the last match resulting in a 3-1 win in 2023.
Southern will match up with Eastern Michigan for the first time since 2012. Southern has a 3-2-1 series lead on the Eagles.
Southern Illinois will meet Xavier for the first time in the program's history.

LAST TIME OUT:

The Salukis went 1-2 at the Saluki Bash, with two five-set losses. They led off the tournament with a five-set loss to New Mexico State, but bounced back later that day with a sweep of Kansas City. The Salukis won their first set against EIU since 2021, then gave the Panthers all they could handle until another tough five-set loss.
Larissa Seger was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Saluki Bash. Seger set her career-high 15 kills in Saturday's match against Eastern Illinois, and Seger had nine total blocks in the three matches.

QUICK HITS:

The Southern Illinois Women's Volleyball team was picked ninth in the annual coaches' Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll. UNI led the poll once again with 120 points and 10 of the 11 first-place votes.
Southern Illinois returns eight players from the 2024 season: five outside hitters, two middle blockers, and one defensive specialist.
Among the returners is Cecilia Bulmahn, who ranked 10th in the Missouri Valley with 4.12 digs per set and was eighth in total digs (433). She had seven aces at UIC on Oct. 12, tied for second-highest in the MVC in a single match, and tied for first in a three-set match. The mark is also tied for eighth in school history. She also posted 34 digs vs Missouri State (9/19), tied for the fourth-most in school history.
Sophomore Eva Krakowski returns after a big freshman campaign in the middle. She won the MVC's freshman of the week on Sept. 16 after 17 kills (41.2%) and eight blocks at UT Martin. The Roselle, Ill., native would match that career high in Saturday's match versus Eastern Illinois.
Senior outside hitter Annabelle Sulish returns as the team's most productive offensive player in 2024. She played in all 29 matches and 113 sets, continuing her streak of appearing in every possible match during her college career. She led the Salukis in kills (343) and points (389.0), and added 291 digs, 25 aces and 37 blocks to her ledger. Her four aces against Idaho on Aug. 31 ranked ninth for the most in a four-set match in the MVC. In 2025's season-opening win over Sam Houston, she set her career high in kills with 23.
Setter Emma Lade had 40 assists in the season-opening win over Sam Houston, the most by a Saluki setter since Anna Jaworski had 51 assists on Nov. 16, 2022.
Freshman setter Addison Kerr had the best game of her young freshman career in Friday's loss to New Mexico State, tallying 27 assists.

Follow the matches with Live Stats.

FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on X (@SIU_Volleyball), Instagram (@SIU_Volleyball) and Facebook (SalukiVolleyball). Fans can also download the Salukis Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.

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