The Saluki volleyball team beat the Illinois State Redbirds 3-1 (17-25, 19-25, 25-19, 18-25) on Saturday to win their sixth conference game of the season.

SIU was led by junior middle hitter Kolby Meeks, who had a team-high 10 kills, while junior outside hitter Abby Barrow and senior setter/hitter Meg Viggars each added nine of their own.

The first set was close as the two teams traded points to an 8-8 tie before SIU went on a 4-0 run to take a 12-8 lead. The Salukis wouldn’t let go as they won 25-17.

Viggars had four of her nine kills in the set.

The second set was close all the way through to a 14-14 tie. But SIU would go on an 11-5 run and take the second set 25-19.

The Salukis dominated the set with a .346 hitting percentage to the Redbirds’ .129.

The third set was as close as the previous. ISU was able to take control late with a 4-0 run after leading 21-19 late to stave off defeat with a 25-19 win.

Set three was Illinois State’s strongest and the SIU’s worst statistically. The Redbirds hit at a .324 rate while the Salukis had a match-worst .211.

The fourth and final set was all SIU as the team went to a 3-0 lead and never trailed to take the set 25-18 and the match.

Freshman outside hitter Ginger Perinar had four kills and junior middle hitter Kolby Meeks had three in the set for SIU.

The Dawgs play at 7 p.m. Monday at defending conference champion Wichita State.

Staff writer Jesse Robertson can be reached at [email protected] or 618-536-3333.

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