Salukis Drop Heartbreaker to Racers - Southern Illinois University Athletics

Saturday, October 24

Carbondale, IL

5 PM

Southern Illinois University

9-13,3-7MVC

Murray State

4-18,2-8MVC

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Murray St.	25	23	25	16	15	3
Southern Ill.	22	25	20	25	12	2

Photo by: Josh Benjamin

10/24/2026 | 10:05:00 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Corey Crombar, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Saluki Women's Volleyball squad looked to snap a six-game losing skid on Saturday at Davies Gym.

The first set saw the Salukis start strong. The Dawgs quickly jumped to a 9-4 lead after forcing several Racer errors. Murray State answered quickly with potent offense offensive play of their own. The end of the set saw the Salukis trailing 23-18, but the Dawgs attempted to crawl back into it. They managed to go on a small scoring run, bringing it within two, but ultimately fell in the set. The Racers opened the match with a victory in set one, 25-22.

Set two was a tight one. After falling in set one, the Dawgs really needed set two for both morale and momentum. The story of the set for the Salukis was resiliency. Murray State opened with a small 3-0 lead, but the Dawgs felt the pressure even with a small deficit. However, a gradual recovery proved to be important for SIU. Their resiliency allowed them to hold Murray State at set point, 24-21. The Racers tried to mount a comeback, but fell just short. An emphatic kill by Chloe Anderson sealed a close set two for the Dawgs, 25-23.

After the teams split the first two sets, both sides were looking to snag the advantage. SIU opened the set with their own 3-0 lead this time. The Racers answered fast, and even had the lead at the technical timeout, 15-13. Murray State had three significant scoring runs throughout the set - a 6-0, 4-0, and 3-0 run. Those runs proved costly for the Salukis. The Racers, with support from streaky play, had a 21-17 lead over Southern. The next seven points alternated as neither team could manifest a run. The Racers got the best of the Dawgs in set three, taking the set 25-20.

The fourth set is when the Salukis played their most dominant volleyball. Southern's blocking was crucial to the success in the set, as they were able to force nine Racer attack errors. The Salukis owned the net in the set and had stolen all momentum from the Racers. The Dawgs also refused to give up. There were several instances where the Salukis refused to give up on the rally. One such play saw Jillian Shaneyfelt make a play worthy of a "SportsCenter Top 10" feature. Clean attacks, blocking dominance, and an overall confidence fueled a Saluki onslaught in set four. The Salukis took set four 25-16. The final point came off a Racer service error.

The match was tied at two. Momentum was in favor of the Dawgs. Davies Gym was rocking. It was the perfect atmosphere for an exciting fifth set of Saluki volleyball. The fifth set was incredibly close, and was back-and-forth up until the end. The set was tied at 11 and it was anyone's match. Unfortunately for the Salukis, the Racers ended the set and match on a 4-1 scoring run. The set and match ultimately ended on a Saluki attack error, as an attack went just out of bounds. Murray State won set five 15-12. The two-and-a-half-hour match came to a close with a final score of three sets to two, Murray State.

Head Coach Brittany Harry said, "What a battle. It was hard to walk into that locker room tonight but Murray was just the better team in critical situations. We actually played a much cleaner offensive game than Murray but they just had the right kills, at the right time when it mattered most. I really love that we had two freshmen, Alex and Kenzie, finish in double-digit kills with really nice hitting efficiencies because it was one of our team goals going into tonight's match. Then of course you have Jilly, who just lays it all out there on defense for us. Her senior leadership is unmatched. So, we will get back to the lab on Monday and go back to work because this team is hungry to get better."

UP NEXT
The Salukis head to central Illinois for two more conference contests. They will face Bradley in Peoria on Friday at 6 p.m. and Illinois State in Normal on Saturday at 7 p.m.

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.