When the Salukis play their first Missouri Valley Conference matches of the season this weekend, head coach Brenda Winkeler said she hopes to see a packed house.

Saturday marks the official “Pack the House” night at Davies Gymnasium and the Salukis are hoping to break the attendance record of 713, which was set last season in a game against Illinois State.

“The band’s coming both nights,” Winkeler said. “With how small this gym is, there’s going to be a lot of noise. We’re just trying to get a lot of people in here and get a victory both nights.”

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The Salukis will play their first game Friday against Indiana State. The Sycamores are 4-6 on the season and are currently second in the conference in service aces, averaging 1.38 per game.

The Salukis and Sycamores hold common victories over Western Illinois. SIU defeated WIU 3-1 in Carbondale, while the Sycamores won 3-2 at the Morehead State Tournament Aug. 30.

But despite Indiana State’s losing record, Winkeler said she believes the matchup between the two teams will be tough.

“Indiana State goes a lot to their outside hitters,” she said. “Serving will be important for us; they have some ball control problems. If we can serve well, we will do well against them.”

Indiana State head coach Traci Dahl said she expects it to be a highly contested match.

“They’ve gotten off to a good start with an 8-1 record,” Dahl said. “Obviously, they have a lot of talent, but so do we. I think it will be a hard fought match, and we’ll see who wins.”

Meanwhile, the Salukis haven’t beat Illinois State since 1990, and have never beat the Redbirds at Davies Gym dating back to 1975, when the athletic department started recording wins and losses.

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Illinois State holds a 6-5 record and will face the Salukis at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Cardinals and Salukis have defeated Oakland 3-0 this season.

Winkeler said the key to beating Illinois State is to keep their hitters from having a solid game.

Junior outside hitter Peggy Riessen is currently second in the conference with 3.70 kills per game, while sophomore outside hitter Mallory Leggett is seventh at 3.29 kills per game.

“Their offense comes from their two big hitters,” she said. “We’ll be keying in on doing well against them. They have a middle right now who doesn’t usually play middle because of injury. That will be key.”

Junior middle blocker Chandra Roberson has been one of the main reasons behind SIU’s start this season.

But despite the poor historical record, Roberson believes the Salukis will prevail.

“Illinois State is a big game for us,” Roberson said. “We haven’t beat them in quite a long time, but I think this year we’re really well prepared. We’re better than them. I really think we should come out with a win.”