By: Howard Woodard
It was an eventful weekend at Davies Gym as the Salukis (8-4) won two out of their three games at the Saluki Invitational. They hosted Missouri State, SIUE, and SEMO as they beat the Bears in five sets, lost to Edwardsville in four, and outlasted the Redhawks in five in a thrilling match to cap the tournament. The first game against Missouri State was almost lost after the Dawgs went up 2-0 in the game. Anna Jaworski, Annabelle Sulish, and Kelly Franklin all had double-doubles as Jaworski had 27 assists while Sulish and Franklin each had 17 kills. The three middle sets were close, with the Bears staying alive in the latter two, but SIU managed to close it out in the final set. They won the first set against SIUE on Friday, but the Cougars bounced back and won the next three sets. It was a sloppy game from the Salukis’ perspective, as they struggled with serving and receiving which carried on to the next game. Edwardsville had 8 aces, and the Dawgs hit only .149. The final game on Saturday against SEMO was a roller-coaster ride, as the Redhawks dominated the first set and a half as the Salukis were out of sorts in all facets of the game. A substitution that replaced Sulish with freshman Kaelin Pribyl in the middle of the second set swung the momentum as the Dawgs went on a 24-14 run after being down 7-1. In fact, SEMO jumped out to large leads in each of the first four sets, where SIU managed comebacks in the second and fourth ones to push the game to a final set. They controlled the fifth set throughout to grab a huge win against their rivals. It was a breakout day for freshman Avery Parris who had 17 kills and six blocks. Ema Stermenska also had 31 assists in the game. Kelly Franklin did return to the lineup after coming out of the game against UT Martin a couple weeks ago and missing some time, as she totaled 42 kills over the three games. The Dawgs definitely have some things to clean up, as they could’ve lost all three matches at home. They will hope to tune things up as they have tough matchups at UNI on Friday, September 27 at 6pm and Drake on Saturday at 5 pm.
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