Saluki Skid Continues with Four Set Loss to Bradley - Southern Illinois University Athletics

Saturday, October 17

Carbondale, IL

5 PM

Southern Illinois University

9-11,3-5MVC

Bradley

11-9,6-2MVC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Bradley	25	25	17	25	3
Southern Ill.	15	18	25	21	1

10/17/2026 | 8:45:00 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Corey Crombar, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Saluki Women's Volleyball team dropped their match Saturday to the Bradley Braves in four sets.

After falling to the Murray State Racers on Friday, the Salukis looked to open the match and first set with dominance. But, it was the opposite for the Salukis. SIU made several errors, including 12 attacking errors and only 7 kills. On 27 total attacks, the Salukis hit -0.185 percent in the first set, leaving plenty of room for improvement. The Braves capitalized on Saluki errors and immediately grew a large lead over the Salukis. The Braves led by 7 at the fifteen-point technical timeout. After the timeout, the match was much more even, but the Salukis were unable to mount a set comeback. The first set ended with a Saluki attack error, sealing the set for the Braves by a score of 25-15.

Set two had a similar storyline. The Braves jumped out to another early lead, but the Salukis were able to bring the set back. The Salukis had shrunk the Bradley lead from six to one at the technical timeout. Coming out of the timeout, it was all Braves. Bradley immediately went on a 5-0 run and never looked back. Unfortunately for the Salukis, they were unable to mount a comeback once again. The Salukis scored points here-and-there, but were not able to string runs together to shrink the Bradley lead. The Braves took set two 25-18.

The third set saw the Salukis make some personnel and strategic changes, which worked. The Dawgs looked like an entirely different team and were not willing to go down without a fight. It was SIU who had the lead at the technical timeout this time, 15-8. The Braves made their attempt to bring themselves back in the set, but were no match for the new-look Salukis in set three. Momentum had shifted in favor of the Dawgs and they were feeding off that. SIU won set three 25-17, and carried that momentum into the fourth set.

Set four had come and the Salukis had their backs up against the wall once again. The start of the set was the definition of evenly matched. Both teams were fighting hard, but for two different reasons: one to stay alive and one to put the match to rest. The set was tied at 13 apiece and the set was up for grabs. But, a five-point scoring run from the Braves is what made the difference in set four. After the run, the set was once again evenly matched with a lot of back-and-forth and even play, but the Salukis were in too deep of a hole. A Bradley kill ended the set 25-21. The Braves took set four and ultimately the match.

Head Coach Brittany Harry said, "Proud of the fight in the third and fourth set. Our offensive struggles continued from last night, which is unfortunate because we show a lot of good volleyball in spurts. We played really well in the 3rd set. Ready to get back into practice to prepare for next week."

UP NEXT
The Salukis continue their three-game home stretch versus rival Illinois State on Friday, October 23 at 6 p.m.

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