The SIU volleyball team started the second half of its regular season unhappy with its record.

Only six teams in the Missouri Valley Conference will make the conference tournament Nov. 27 to 29. If the season ended today, the Salukis (8-9, 2-3) would be the sixth seed.

“The regular season title is a wonderful thing because you get a bye within the conference tournament,” head coach Justin Ingram said. “I think everybody needs to look at this realistically and shoot for a conference tournament bid.”

Ingram said the regular season title does not matter as much as the tournament title because it does not qualify a team for the NCAA tournament. Ingram coached the Salukis to consecutive conference tournaments in 2012 and 2013 in his first two years as coach.

SIU was 12-3 through the first half of the 2012 season, but was knocked out of the tournament in the first round by the Illinois State Redbirds. The Salukis were 6-9 through the first 15 matches last season. The team finished runner-up at the conference tournament as the third seed to the Wichita State Shockers.

Junior hitter Taylor Pippen said at the beginning of this season, the team goals were to win the regular season conference title and win the MVC tournament to qualify for the NCAA tournament.

“It’s still possible,” Pippen said. “We just have to come out stronger. We just have to have a different mindset going into the rest of the games. It’s very capable of us still winning.”

The Salukis were picked to finish fifth in conference in the MVC preseason poll. Sophomore setter/ hitter Meg Viggars said she wanted to prove the pollsters wrong.

“Of course we’re not happy with the record,” she said. “We’re losing more games than we expected.”

Two of SIU’s conference losses came from Indiana State (10-6, 2-3) and Loyola (6-9, 2-4), and both were picked to finish behind the Salukis.

“Every team can beat every team in this conference,” Viggars said.

Ingram said SIU has to be more consistent with its play going forward this season.

“Unfortunately we’re taking baby steps,” he said. “The staff is looking for a bit bigger steps into getting consistent to where we need to be.”

The Salukis are coming off a win against Bradley on Saturday. Redshirt freshman outside hitter Andrea Estrada said the win was crucial because it snapped the team’s three-match losing streak.

Estrada said the team’s techniques are important, but the main thing it needs to work on is attitude. She said the team forgot about the losses, came ready to play Saturday, and has to do that for the rest of the year.

The Salukis have 13 more conference matches this season, including two this weekend. They play at 7 p.m., Friday at Drake and 7 p.m., Saturday at Northern Iowa.

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