Saluki volleyball (9-4) needed all five sets in both matches to win their two dramatic matches Saturday at the Butler Invitational in Indianapolis

In the first match of the day, SIU defeated Youngstown State (5-9) in a comeback victory from a two-set deficit to win (19-25, 15-25, 25-12, 25-16, 15-5). The Dawgs then beat host Butler (3-9) in another close five-set match (25-18, 22-25, 25-22, 20-25, 16-14).

After posting attack percentages of .146 and .083 in the first two sets against Youngstown State, the Salukis turned it around to post .462, .205 and .400 attack percentages in the last three.

“I think it took a while for us to realize how hard we had to play to beat Youngstown,” coach Justin Ingram said. “We just got settled in, our serves got tougher, our defense got better and we never looked back.” 

Like the first match of the day, SIU took Butler to a fifth set, but eked a close victory against the host that went into extra points in the final set.

“In matches like these you have to maintain control, and we know that we have to stay focused to win these close games,” junior setter and hitter Meg Viggars said. 

The Salukis were helped out by sophomore outside hitter Abby Barrow, who set a season-high .529 attack percentage against Youngstown State and .319 against Butler.

“[After the first two sets] we started communicating better and talking more,” Barrow said. “I started gaining my confidence with my blocks and my kills and I just was ready to carry it over to the second match.”

The Salukis open up conference play on the road next weekend with games Friday and Saturday at Northern Iowa and Drake, respectively.

Sean Carley can be reached [email protected] or on Twitter @SCarleyDE.