SIU volleyball finds itself on a new streak, but not one it was hoping for.

The Salukis (7-8, 1-2) continued conference play this weekend on the road with a 3-1 loss against the Illinois State University Redbirds (9-5, 3-0) on Friday at the Redbird Arena, and a 3-2 loss against the Indiana State University Sycamores (10-5, 2-2) on Saturday at the ISU Arena.

SIU had its four-match win streak snapped by the Redbirds Friday.

“We unfortunately played uninspired volleyball tonight, and that’s about as kind as I can be,” Ingram said.

The Salukis won the first set 26-24 after trailing 24-19, but could not keep the momentum, as they dropped the next three sets 25-13, 25-17 and 25-11.

“Those are rare,” SIU coach Justin Ingram said. “We need to make some changes in order to make sure that gap doesn’t happen again. That’s a gift. Those are very rare. You can’t expect a 6 point comeback.”

The Redbirds were 11-2 in first sets this season and won the first set in their last six matches entering Friday.

“When we’ve lost the first set it’s been a little bit different,” Illinois State coach Melissa Myers said. “We’ve won the first set a lot this year. You’re not sure how your team’s going to respond.”

Myers said she was happy with how the Redbirds responded.

Redshirt freshman outside hitter Andrea Estrada led the Salukis with 8 kills.

“I wasn’t disciplined in blocking,” Estrada said. “My kills don’t really matter at the end of the day. I wasn’t disciplined block or defense.”

Estrada had five service errors this weekend. She said she has to concentrate more when she serves.

Junior middle hitter Taylor Pippen had 5 kills on her first 5 attempts, but finished the match with 7 kills on 17 attempts and 3 errors.

“We were getting a little frustrated just because they were doing well on defense, picking up those balls,” Pippen said. “I guess they were just making adjustments to our hitting and we weren’t making the right adjustments.”

On Saturday the Salukis found themselves trailing two sets to one. The set was tied 22-22, with sophomore libero Leah Edgerton serving. Edgerton only played in 7 sets before the weekend. She gave the Salukis a two-point lead, which eventually forced a fifth set.

“I feel like my teammates have a lot of trust in me,” Edgerton said.

Ingram said Edgerton has earned more playing time to serve.

The Sycamores won the fifth set 15-10 to win the match, and beat the Salukis for the first time since 2011.

Indiana State was picked to finish the Missouri Valley Conference ninth, but Ingram said it is tight competition from top to bottom in conference.

“When we have 10 reception errors, that doesn’t show we’re really in system period,” Ingram said.

Ingram said the team is playing well overall, and has a similar feel to last season. The Salukis were 6-9 through the first 15 matches and ended up finishing second in the conference championships.

The Salukis host Loyola University at 7 p.m., Friday and Bradley University 3 p.m., Saturday at Davies Gym.

Aaron Graff can be contacted at [email protected], on Twitter@Aarongraff_DE or 536-3311 ext. 269