By: Howard Woodard
The Dawgs (10-10) could not capitalize on their advantageous road matchups this past weekend during a two-game stretch where their opponents, Evansville and Indiana State, had three combined wins coming into the games. The concerning part is that SIU could’ve lost both of these matches as they went to five sets in both. On Friday night against the Aces, Evansville’s persistent strategy of playing almost completely through their dominant outside hitter, Giulia Cardona, resulted in a win. She had a season-high 37 kills on 88 attacks, as she powered the Aces to win the first two sets. But the Dawgs fought as they have several times this season, winning sets three and four to push the match to five sets. It was a familiar position in a winner-take-all set that the Salukis have fared well in, going 5-1 in these situations before this match. But Cardona got three kills in a row late in the fifth set to help Evansville escape with a victory. It was a stuffed stat sheet for SIU, as Kelly Franklin had a career-high 20 kills, Anna Jaworski had a double-double with 28 assists and 13 digs, and Ema Stermenska had 21 assists. They were on the opposite side of the match against the Sycamores, as the Dawgs won the first set in back-and-forth before taking complete control in a 25-14 win of set two. The Trees then battled in the following two sets, winning both 25-23. The Salukis had a 16-8 lead in the fourth set, but ISU staged a comeback on the back of an 11-2 run to push the match to a decisive fifth set. The Dawgs managed to close it out as they distanced themselves early and finished strong. It was a dominant performance from their duos of outside hitting and setting, which hasn’t been the case for much of the season. Franklin and Annabelle Sulish combined for 39 kills and 37 digs, with Sulish totaling 20 while Franklin dug out 19 attacks, a career high. Stermenska assisted a career-best 36 kills and Jaworski was right behind with 35. Cecilia Bulmahn had 18 digs in this one as well. SIU returns to Davies Gym this weekend to face Belmont (7-14) on Friday, October 25 at 6 pm and Murray State (10-8) on Saturday, October 26 at 5 pm.
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