The SIU volleyball team had a bumpy start to the season, finding its rhythm after sweeping Evansville but falling in three sets to Illinois State.

The Salukis traveled to Indiana State Friday where they cut down the Sycamores, and then to Normal on Sunday where they were swept by the Redbirds.

Coach Justin Ingram said his team had to figure out who was going to be the best player to score points at the end of sets.

“As the sets were ending, it was a matter of us finding the right hitter and having success offensively,” Ingram said in a Saluki Athletics press release.

In the first game of the weekend, the Salukis were able to win all three sets against Indiana State despite the Sycamores being right on their tails. The match had a total of 30 ties and 10 lead changes.

SIU took the first set of the match 25-22, but the second was a different story. Indiana State had three opportunities to win but came up short on all three. After being down 27-26 in the second, the Salukis took the next three points to win the set 29-27. Using a six-point run and a four-point run, SIU was able to close out the match with a 25-20 win.

Ingram said everything was working for his team on Friday.

“I think the level of play which goes from all skill sets, from the pass to the hit and the set,” Ingram said. “It was a very high level.”

Senior outside hitter Jessica Whitehead led SIU in kills for the fifth-straight match after Friday night. She finished with 17 kills, while sophomore middle blocker Taylor Pippen tallied 13 kills. Freshman setter Hannah Kaminsky continued her impressive campaign with 37 assists and 10 digs. SIU had accumulated 31.5 blocks in the three matches leading up to Sunday’s contest against Illinois State.

Kaminsky said the game against Evansville was one of the most complete games they have played this year.

“I felt like as a team it was probably one of the best nights we’ve connected,” Kaminsky said.

Ingram said Whitehead’s chemistry with Kaminsky is great on the court.

“Jess (Whitehead) had another unreal night for us,” he said. “She had some great attacks and was really in sync with Hannah Kaminsky, and that has proven hard for the opposition.”

Sunday was a different story for the Salukis. The Redbirds entered the match against SIU with an overall record of 8-3 and 1-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference, having just swept the University of Evansville on Friday. Illinois State is an experienced team with a combined total of 11 juniors and seniors.

Errors were an issue in the loss. The Salukis committed 25 errors while the Redbirds only had 15, and the Salukis fell 25-21, 25-19, and 25-19.

A bright spot for SIU was team defense. They had 59 digs with three players racking up double-digit digs.

The Salukis will play conference foe Bradley University on Friday at Davies Gym. It is the first home conference game for SIU this season.

Tyler Dixon can be reached at 

[email protected] 

or 536-3311 ext. 269.