Meghan Anderson
Photo by: Jordan Kruse
Recap | Southern splits day one of Golden Grizzly Invite
09/12/2025 | 8:03:00 | Women's Volleyball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois Volleyball finished day one of the Golden Grizzly Invite with a victory over host Oakland, and a loss to Eastern Michigan to round out the day.
Match 1: Southern Illinois 3, Oakland 1
Oakland fed off the home crowd energy in set one, climbing back into the competition after SIU jumped out to a quick 12-4 lead. The Golden Grizzlies would go on a 12-4 run of their own to tie the match, but took full control with a 4-0 run late in the set, tallying the final point with a kill from Libby Smith.Â
The home team took momentum into a back-and-forth second set, but well-timed short runs from the Salukis were enough to get them over the top, winning set two 25-21.
The Golden Grizzlies would spend the last of their competitive energy in set three, responding well to Larissa Seger's six kills in the set. Ultimately, their efforts were vain as Southern Illinois pulled out the victory when Eva Krakowski put down the set-winning kill.
Set four started neck-and-neck with a 6-6 tie, but the Salukis would score 13 of the next 14 points en route to putting the Golden Grizzlies away for good. The 25-10 victory punctuated a much-needed win.
"I thought we did a really nice job of settling in after a back-and-forth first set, and I thought our offensive balance in the match was really spread, which is a testament to the play of Emma Lade," Head Coach Brittany Harry said.
Lade has started all seven matches and had 34 assists in the victory, her most since the season opener.
Seger continued her flaming-hot start to the season with another 12 kills and five blocks. Like the aforementioned Lade, Cecilia Bulmahn tallied her fourth double-double of the young season with 12 kills and 13 digs. Ainara Fernandes also gave the team a boost off the bench with nine kills.
"I thought Ainara came in and was a great lift off of the bench and of course, Larissa and Ceci playing lights out yet again," Harry said.
Match 2: Eastern Michigan 3, Southern Illinois 1
Eastern Michigan and Southern Illinois looked to be evenly matched through the first two sets, but key adjustments from the Eagles later in the match proved to be the deciding factor.
"Our service pressure in sets one and two versus EMU really allowed our hitters to score in transition because they were out of system quite a bit," Harry said. "When EMU cleaned up their first contact, their hitters got really comfortable swinging, and we just simply didn't block or pick up the defense like we needed to."
Sets one and two were as close as a match can get as the Salukis and Eagles each took wins by scores of 27-25 and 25-23, respectively.Â
Set three flipped the momentum as Eastern Michigan pulled away with a 5-0 run late that would all but seal the set at a score of 20-16. Ava Siefke put down two of the final three points, and EMU had the Salukis on the ropes on Friday night.
Facing a 16-9 deficit in set four, Harry put in Julia Brazil to provide a spark off the bench. After obtaining the serve, Brazil had two aces, fueling a 6-0 run to bring Southern within a point.
The prolonging of set four only helped Kelly Franklin stuff the stat sheet more, as the senior had 12 of her 16 kills just in that frame. Her efforts would be too little too late, as the Eagles eventually squeaked out the victory with a 31-29 win in set four.
"I think we had a lot of missed opportunities in this match to take control of the momentum, but we could never quite get everything firing on all cylinders at the same time," Harry said. "A lot of unforced errors on our end and EMU did a good job capitalizing on those mistakes."
Seger tied her career-high with 15 kills on 24 attempts with just one error, hitting a superb .583.
UP NEXT
The Salukis will close the Golden Grizzly Invite with a bout against Xavier Saturday at 11 a.m. CT. Follow the social media pages below for updates on 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.
Match 1: Southern Illinois 3, Oakland 1
Oakland fed off the home crowd energy in set one, climbing back into the competition after SIU jumped out to a quick 12-4 lead. The Golden Grizzlies would go on a 12-4 run of their own to tie the match, but took full control with a 4-0 run late in the set, tallying the final point with a kill from Libby Smith.Â
The home team took momentum into a back-and-forth second set, but well-timed short runs from the Salukis were enough to get them over the top, winning set two 25-21.
The Golden Grizzlies would spend the last of their competitive energy in set three, responding well to Larissa Seger's six kills in the set. Ultimately, their efforts were vain as Southern Illinois pulled out the victory when Eva Krakowski put down the set-winning kill.
Set four started neck-and-neck with a 6-6 tie, but the Salukis would score 13 of the next 14 points en route to putting the Golden Grizzlies away for good. The 25-10 victory punctuated a much-needed win.
"I thought we did a really nice job of settling in after a back-and-forth first set, and I thought our offensive balance in the match was really spread, which is a testament to the play of Emma Lade," Head Coach Brittany Harry said.
Lade has started all seven matches and had 34 assists in the victory, her most since the season opener.
Seger continued her flaming-hot start to the season with another 12 kills and five blocks. Like the aforementioned Lade, Cecilia Bulmahn tallied her fourth double-double of the young season with 12 kills and 13 digs. Ainara Fernandes also gave the team a boost off the bench with nine kills.
"I thought Ainara came in and was a great lift off of the bench and of course, Larissa and Ceci playing lights out yet again," Harry said.
Match 2: Eastern Michigan 3, Southern Illinois 1
Eastern Michigan and Southern Illinois looked to be evenly matched through the first two sets, but key adjustments from the Eagles later in the match proved to be the deciding factor.
"Our service pressure in sets one and two versus EMU really allowed our hitters to score in transition because they were out of system quite a bit," Harry said. "When EMU cleaned up their first contact, their hitters got really comfortable swinging, and we just simply didn't block or pick up the defense like we needed to."
Sets one and two were as close as a match can get as the Salukis and Eagles each took wins by scores of 27-25 and 25-23, respectively.Â
Set three flipped the momentum as Eastern Michigan pulled away with a 5-0 run late that would all but seal the set at a score of 20-16. Ava Siefke put down two of the final three points, and EMU had the Salukis on the ropes on Friday night.
Facing a 16-9 deficit in set four, Harry put in Julia Brazil to provide a spark off the bench. After obtaining the serve, Brazil had two aces, fueling a 6-0 run to bring Southern within a point.
The prolonging of set four only helped Kelly Franklin stuff the stat sheet more, as the senior had 12 of her 16 kills just in that frame. Her efforts would be too little too late, as the Eagles eventually squeaked out the victory with a 31-29 win in set four.
"I think we had a lot of missed opportunities in this match to take control of the momentum, but we could never quite get everything firing on all cylinders at the same time," Harry said. "A lot of unforced errors on our end and EMU did a good job capitalizing on those mistakes."
Seger tied her career-high with 15 kills on 24 attempts with just one error, hitting a superb .583.
UP NEXT
The Salukis will close the Golden Grizzly Invite with a bout against Xavier Saturday at 11 a.m. CT. Follow the social media pages below for updates on 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.
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Volleyball
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