Salukis Take Down Merrimack in Four Sets

Friday, September 4

Carbondale, IL

7 PM

Southern Illinois University

5-0,0-0MVC

Merrimack

0-5,0-0Metro

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Merrimack	25	24	17	23	1
Southern Ill.	23	26	25	25	3

Alexandria Arrington bumps a ball in warmups.

Chloe Anderson spikes a ball in warmups.

Valentina Zevallos spikes a ball in warmups.

The team breaks down a huddle in warmups.

The team stands side-by-side during the National Anthem.

Natalie Vance spikes a ball in the match.

Jillian Shaneyfelt tosses a ball in the air prior to her serve.

Ella McFarland sets a ball over the net.

Natalie Vance swings her arm back for a spike.

The team screams in celebration and huddles after a point.

Carlota Mora and Ella Swansiger high five after a point.

Ella Swansiger high fives head coach Brittany Harry.

Ella McFarland serves a ball in the match.

The team huddles around head coach Brittany Harry during a timeout.

The team screams in celebration after a point.

Isabella Del Real and Jillian Shaneyfelt high five after a point.

Beatriz Piaia and Carlota Mora scream in celebration.

Isabella Del Real lunges as she bumps a ball.

Natalie Vance celebrates with Ella McFarland and Isabella Del Real.

The team screams and runs in celebration after a point.

The team screams and huddles after a point.

Jillian Shaneyfelt goes airborne for a serve.

Chloe Anderson and Ella Swansiger go up for a tandem block.

Jillian Shaneyfelt lays out for a ball as she bumps it.

Chloe Anderson and Ella Swansiger block a ball.

Beatriz Piaia spikes a ball over the net.

Beatriz Piaia swings her arm back to spike a ball.

Jillian Shaneyfelt jumps as she sets a ball.

Head Coach Brittany Harry talks to the team on the floor during a challenge.

09/04/2026 | 10:52:00 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Corey Crombar, SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - After falling in the first set, the Southern Illinois Women's Volleyball team turned things around fast. The Salukis ended up defeating the Merrimack Warriors in four sets on Friday evening in the Banterra Center.

After defeating Southeast Missouri State earlier Friday, the Saluki Women's Volleyball team looked to continue their momentum in the right direction by starting with a set victory over the Merrimack Warriors. In the first set of the contest, both teams looked slightly sluggish. This can likely be attributed to both teams playing prior in the day. However, competitive division one volleyball was still played. There were scoring runs and a lot of back-and-forth in this first set. Unfortunately for the Salukis, they couldn't take this one from the Warriors as Merrimack took the first set, 25-23.

The second set was when the Salukis kicked it into high gear. When Southern turned it on, Merrimack responded well. Both teams were playing phenomenal defense and aggressive offense. The set was an all-out battle. For the entire set, either team could have walked away with the set victory - that's how close it was. Ultimately, the set was tied at 24 apiece as the Salukis racked up a kill from Beatriz Piaia and a service ace from Carlota Mora to seal the set victory, 26-24.

Despite the score outcome of the third set, it wasn't perfect by any means for Southern. In the set, the Salukis quickly fell into a 8-2 deficit. However, this only fueled their fire and boosted their mentality. Southern came crawling back slowly, but surely. Thanks to a slew of errors from Merrimack, the Dawgs were able to jump back on the scoreboard. In the end, a kill from Carlota Mora gave the Salukis the third set by a lopsided score of 25-17.

The fourth and final set was a nail-biter. It was close from the first serve until the last attack. Fortunately for the Salukis, the crowd at the Banterra Center was behind their backs the entire time, and helped give them the ultimate point, set, and match victory over the Merrimack Warriors. The final score of set four was 25-23 in favor of the Salukis.

After the conclusion of the match, Head Coach Brittany Harry said, "It wasn't pretty, and it definitely wasn't our cleanest match, but we were able to grind out a four-set win. It is really hard to play two matches in one day. This afternoons match with SEMO was one for the books so I was just proud we were able to dig deep and get a win tonight after a really intense day. I thought our middles did a really nice job and Chloe had an awesome night for us with her offensively. We are definitely looking forward to some rest and recovery before getting ready for a very good SLU team tomorrow."

UP NEXT
The Salukis will wrap up the Saluki Bash as they take on the Saint Louis Billikens in a highly anticipated match on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

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