The SIU volleyball team is looking for one thing tonight. Redemption.

The Salukis travel to Evansville for their first Missouri Valley Conference road match of the season against the Purple Aces at 7 p.m.

“We lost at their place last year,” said sophomore outside hitter Sydney Clark. “I’ve always thought we were better than Evansville. I think it’s time that we prove to them that we’re the better team in their house.”

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After losing just their second game of the season last weekend to Illinois State, the Salukis (9-2) will look to rebound from a loss that ended a five game winning streak.

SIU has gotten off to one of its best starts in school history, in large part due to the one-two punch of sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Berwanger and junior middle blocker Chandra Roberson.

Berwanger currently leads the team with 122 kills and 155 digs, while Roberson ranks second with 100 kills and leads the team with nine blocks.

Evansville, meanwhile, brings a similar tandem to the table.

Outside hitters senior Sally Kulupka and freshman Brook Maher, who have 136 and 135 kills, respectively, lead the Purple Aces offensively while sophomore libero Julie Sylvester anchors the defense, averaging 4.29 digs per game this season.

SIU head coach Brenda Winkeler said the match should be tough but feels confident the team has thoroughly prepared for the Purple Aces.

“We had a week to prepare and got early film on Evansville,” Winkeler said. “We’re just taking more of a technical aspect towards it and worked on the things we need to work on.”

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Winkeler said the team needs to work on its ball control and running offense to effectively play against Evansville.

Winkeler said Roberson has been working on perfecting a new weapon to use against Evansville.

“We’ve been working with Chandra doing a slide behind the setter,” Winkeler said. “We’ve been working on that because, looking at film of Evansville, that’s something that’s going to be effective.”

The slide behind is a move used to get a kill. While the setter is getting ready to set the ball, Roberson runs behind the setter to her other side, jumps off one foot and spikes the ball.

Winkeler said she is looking for other players besides Berwanger and Roberson to step up.

Junior middle blocker Marina Medic said there are certain things she needs to do to make the team better.

“I really need to work on my blocking because I think that’s been hindering our team,” Medic said. “There’s just some technical things with my blocking that need to be worked out. I also need to hit at a high percentage.”

The Carson Center, home of Purple Ace volleyball, is different from most MVC gyms the team plays in. Winkeler said they always have good student attendance, and those students do a lot of heckling. She said it’s a smaller venue, and they actually had to put a rule in place this season to back the students farther from the floor.

Stile Smith can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 282 or [email protected]