Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
2-0,0-0MVC
East Texas A&M
1-1,0-0Southland
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Ill. | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
| East Texas A&M | 27 | 22 | 21 | 19 | 1 |
Salukis Storm Back to take down host Lions
08/29/2026 | 9:20:00 | Women's Volleyball
The Salukis were pumped up coming off yesterday's victory over UL Monroe. The energy showed when they faced the Lions, but the first set was not pretty for Southern. East Texas A&M hit an astonishing .517Â in the first set. The Lions looked ready to play and to continue their momentum after their dominant 3-0 win over Texas Southern on Friday. The set was not perfect for the Lions by any means. The Dawgs had the Lions at set point toward the end of the first set, but couldn't close it out. The Lions took the first set by a score of 27-25.
After falling dramatically in the first set, the Salukis were eager to bounce back - and they did just that. The Lions made several errors in the set, and the Salukis were able to capitalize on ETAM's miscues. To end the second set, McKenzie Moeller smashed a ball over the net, giving the Salukis the set victory. Southern, fueled by an 8-point scoring run, took the second set 25-21.
Following the second set, it was smooth sailing for the Salukis. Southern won the third set by a score of 25-21. The fourth set and match came to a close when the Lions had too many hits after a kill by Natalie Vance. The fourth set ended at a score of 25-19 in favor of the Salukis.
The Dawgs were unstoppable on the attack, and the defense never let up. Heading the attack today was Ella Swansiger and Natalie Vance, who tied the team-lead with 14 kills. McKenzie Moeller followed the charge with 13 kills. Ella McFarland and Lillian Dempkey fueled those kills with oodles of assists. McFarland recorded 28 assists and Dempkey had 22 assists.
After the first set, it was hard to get a ball past Southern's deep line of defense. Leading the blocking charge was Chloe Anderson, who had four blocks on the match. Leading the Salukis in digs was once again senior defensive specialist/libero Jillian Shaneyfelt. Shaneyfelt tallied 14 digs on the day, and junior transfer Carlota Mora followed with 13 digs.
After the match, Head Coach Brittany Harry said, "This group battles and we love to see it. We didn't start off in the first set playing our best volleyball and East Texas made a few lineup changes that really challenged us. Their adjustments really took away our outside attack so I have to shout out our right sides, Ella Swans[iger] and Natalie Vance for just dominating out there. Once we started playing SIU volleyball you could feel the pressure shift over to East Texas and we did a great job of capitalizing on their errors to pull out a win versus the home team." Â
UP NEXT
The Salukis close out the Lion Invitational bright and early Sunday morning at 11 a.m. versus the Tigers of Texas Southern at The Field House.
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