Chandra Roberson led the Saluki offense with nine kills.
Oct. 9, 2009
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The Missouri State volleyball team hit nearly .300 to hand Southern Illinois its first three-set loss of the season 25-23, 25-19, 25-13 Friday night in Missouri Valley Conference play at the Hammons Student Center.
"In the first set we ran great offense," Saluki head coach Brenda Winkeler said. "But our inconsistent passing led to problems in the final two sets of the night."
The Salukis (13-3, 3-3 MVC) hit a team-high .212 in the first set, but fell short of the Bears (13-4, 6-0) by two points. MSU hit .260 in the set with just three errors.
In the second set, the Bears converted 23 attacks into 14 kills for a match-high .435 percentage.
SIU was held to a .000 hitting percentage in the final set with an equal six kills and six errors, scoring just 13 points.
Overall, the Salukis recorded a match-high nine service errors.
Middle blocker Chandra Roberson led the Salukis hitting .500 with nine kills and just two errors in 14 attempts. Outside hitters Laura Thole and Jennifer Berwanger added six kills each. Roberson also added one solo and one block assist, while fellow middle blocker Alysia Mayes added a match-high one solo and four block assists for the Dawgs.
Libero Lauren Blumhorst led the defense with 15 digs, Berwanger adding 10.
Setter Rachael Brown paced the offense with 28 assists, five digs and three block assists.
The Bears' setter Melissa Gmur recorded the only double-double of the night, a 34 assist, 11 dig effort to lead her offense. Megan Bess and Addie Foley posted 12 and 11 kills respectively.
The Salukis return to action Saturday when they travel to Wichita State. First serve is at 7 p.m. Live stats will be available at www.goshockers.com.
