The Salukis lost a thrilling five set match against Middle Tennessee State in front of a large crowd Tuesday at Davies Gym.

SIU and MTSU competed for over two hours in a match that looked as if it would only last three sets, but the Salukis fought back and pushed the Blue Raiders to their breaking point.

The Salukis entered the match on a two-match losing streak; they lost to IPFW and Duquesne on Saturday. Middle Tennessee was also coming off a loss to the 24th ranked team in the country, North Carolina.

The Blue Raiders took the first two sets of the game by a score of 25-22. MTSU had a combined 31 kills on their 50 points in the first two sets and were led by sophomore Chelsea Ross with 17 kills.

Head Coach Justin Ingram said his team showed grit and toughness after Friday’s five set win against Connecticut. The team found that grit again in last night’s third set. SIU trailed 13-10 in the third, and then scored 15 of the next 18 points to take the set in commanding fashion, 25-16.

“(I’m) pretty pleased about the kind of fight we showed,” Ingram said.

Sophomore Taylor Pippen finished the game with 16 kills, and was a key component in several blocks. Pippen is one of only four players that returned from last year’s squad. She said the older players on the team need to lead the newcomers.

“The veterans on the team definitely need to step up,” Pippen said. “We have so many new faces on the team.”

After taking the fourth set 25-23, the Salukis set up a fifth and final set against MTSU, who Coach Ingram said had characteristics of a former heavyweight champion.

“Playing Middle Tennessee is like playing Mike Tyson,” Ingram said. “You have to be able to sustain some of those punches.”

With 11 newcomers on the team, it’s easy to use youth as an excuse but Ingram said his team can’t use that as a crutch anymore.

“We can only use that we’re young so often, and that was this weekend,” he said.

After the many ups and downs of the match, it ended rather abruptly on a controversial net call. Middle Tennessee State took the final set 16-14.

Senior Jessica Whitehead led the Salukis with 18 kills in the loss while freshman Meg Viggars ended the match with 10. Viggars added 12 digs as well.

Coach Ingram said his team knows what they are capable of.

“The team’s a good team, the team’s believing that we’re a good team,” he said.

Pippen said the third set showed what their team can be for the rest of the season.

“Third game, everything was just flowing,” she said. “It showed us the team we can be, and the team we’re going to be.”