By: Howard Woodard
It was a disappointing weekend for Saluki volleyball (5-2) after they lost two out of three games at home during the Saluki Bash. The most disheartening was the lost match to Jackson State who took the game three sets to one. The Tigers took an early lead in the first set, and the Dawgs showed some heart to tie the game up and send it to deuces, but JSU pulled out the win. SIU took the second set but were dominated in the next two as Jackson State beat the Salukis for the first time between the two programs. Kelly Franklin had 16 kills, but the Tigers outhit SIU .193 to .116. Game 2 against Memphis was a back-and-forth matchup where the Dawgs jumped out two sets to none. Franklin added 19 kills and Annabelle Sulish, Larissa Seger, and Ella Swansiger all had double digit kill totals. The Tigers took the next two sets pretty convincingly and then jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the final set. But SIU fought back and reclaimed the lead and took home the win. They were swept 3-0 by Eastern Illinois, who went undefeated in the Saluki Bash to cap the tournament as the Dawgs could never get into much of a rhythm. The Salukis were outhit .283 to .188 by the Panthers and had a few good stretches of volleyball in the match but were outlasted in the first two sets before getting dominated with their backs to the wall. A really disappointing week was in store for the team as they went on the road to face UT Martin on Tuesday. They would go down quietly two sets to none and looked on the verge of being swept in back-to-back games, but the Dawgs completed the reverse sweep against the Skyhawks. SIU was led by freshman Eva Krakowski who put together 18 kills. Anna Jaworski had 28 assists and 17 digs in the match. It was a nail-biting third set, but the Salukis stayed alive to win it 25-23. Being down to their final point 24-19, the Dawgs locked in to rattle off seven straight points to force a fifth set. In the race to 15, SIU never looked back as they held the lead for the entire final set. It was the second reverse sweep in as many weeks for the Salukis who are now 4-0 away from Carbondale. Something to note was outside hitter Kelly Franklin’s injury in this game where she jumped up for a block at the net and landed awkwardly on her left leg. She was helped off the court as she couldn’t put much weight on it and didn’t return in this game. The Dawgs will head to St. Charles, MO for the Lindenwood Invitational this weekend where they will play two games against the Lady Lions and Austin Peay.
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