Southern Illinois Salukis pick up home victory against Cougars – Volleyball news
The women’s volleyball team of Southern Illinois University claimed a spectacular win over the visiting team from SIU Edwardsville on Tuesday, September 27. The Davies Gymnasium in Carbondale, Illinois, set up the field of play for the two in-state rivals.
The Edwardsville team rallied from a 2-0 deficit at SIU Carbondale and created the dead-lock of 2-2 by winning the third and fourth set. SIU was forced to play the fifth set, in order to get to the match conclusion. However, the hosts pulled off success
in the decisive final set and grabbed success. The scoreboard showed the final scores of 3-2 (25-21, 25-20, 16-25, 23-25, 15-8), as the Salukis grabbed a win.
Key Salukis
Alysia Mayes of Salukis recorded her career-best 20 kills on a hitting percentage of .444 in the match. "Coach told us that they were going to be a smaller team, so just hit high and not try to bang balls." Mayes further added, "I went with that and it was
successful."
Jessica Whitefield did equally well. Despite a sore knee, she exhibited good movement and enabled her team to rule the court. She clipped 13 kills and also contributed one point on a block. Likewise her team-mate, junior outside hitter Laura Thole, went
for a double-double with 13 kills and 19 digs.
Match overview
The opening set of the match saw level play as the scores inched forward. The hosts jumped to an early 7-5 lead, while the Cougars quickly responded and tied the score at 7-all. Cougars continued with the same spirit and went up to 11-10. Sammi Minton, the
setter for SIUE, put up a great fight for her team and assisted the hitters. Nevertheless, Salukis snatched the lead at second technical timeout. Following the eighth tie of scores in the first set, Salukis hit the mark and sealed 25-21 victory. Second set
also came successful for SIU and they extended their lead to 2-0 by posting 25-20.
After dropping two sets in a row, Edwardsville Cougars came up with a better game plan. They successfully covered the deficit and captured the next two sets of the game.
The tie of scores at 2-2 created an interesting twist in the game. Both sides had an equal chance to claim victory but the Salukis performed better in the fifth set and pushed the opponents behind. Cougars dropped the final set by trailing behind seven points,
while Salukis won the match at 3-2.
The coach of the winning team, Brenda Winkeler, expressed her views after the match. She stated: "It was definitely an up and down night. We gave them too many easy balls. That was the biggest things in sets three and four. You can't give any team that kind
of ball."
The SIU squad will turn back to MVC action on Friday as Evansville comes to Davies Gymnasium for SIU's annual Dig for the Cure match.
Tags: