Pierre and Estrada face misdemeanor charges

By Brent Meske, @brentmeskeDE

Saluki women’s basketball senior forward/center Dyana Pierre and sophomore volleyball outside hitter Andrea Estrada are facing misdemeanor charges from an incident on Oct. 25. 

The athletes were charged with criminal damage to property less than $300 and resisting a peace officer according to judicial records. 

The records state their first scheduled court date is 9 a.m. Nov. 20 at the Jackson County Courthouse in Murphysboro.

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Both were suspended for violating team rules. 

Pierre was suspended by women’s basketball coach Cindy Stein before the Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Media Day on Oct. 27 in St. Louis. The team won both exhibition games in her absence. 

Estrada was suspended by volleyball coach Justin Ingram before SIU’s road matches against Loyola and Bradley on Oct. 30 and Oct. 31, respectively. The team won both matches in her absence. She returned for the 3-2 win against Wichita State on Nov. 2. Pierre has not returned to the court and is a practice team player, coach Cindy Stein said. 

“We are fully aware of the situation that occurred with Dyana Pierre and the Carbondale Police,” Stein said in a statement released to the Southern Illinoisan on Tuesday. “Dyana made a huge mistake and goes 100 percent against what we want representing this great university and program.” 

Stein said she added mandatory community service hours to Pierre’s schedule, according to the Southern. 

Pierre is 103 rebounds away from the SIU all-time record of 1,014 set by Sue Faber in 1983. Pierre was selected to the preseason All-MVC team during MVC media day on Oct. 27. She finished last season with 14.6 points a game, second on the team.

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The women’s basketball team begins its season at 7 p.m. Friday in Chicago against DePaul in the first round of the Preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament. 

Estrada currently leads the team in total kills and kills per set with 346 and 3.39 respectively. She Is second on the team with 329 digs. 

The volleyball team has four regular season matches remaining before the MVC Tournament begins Nov. 26. 

Brent Meske can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @brentmeskeDE 

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