The Salukis had their opportunity but couldn’t take advantage of it in their final push to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

The SIU volleyball team entered the weekend of Nov. 17 in a tie with the University of Evansville (12-18, 6-12 MVC) for sixth place in the Missouri Valley Conference – the spot needed to qualify for the postseason tournament.

The Purple Aces lost both their matches, keeping SIU’s postseason hopes alive.

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The Salukis (11-17, 6-12 MVC) couldn’t capitalize at Davies Gymnasium against Creighton University and Drake University – ending SIU’s season.

The Salukis were optimistic after the Nov. 17 defeat at the hands of Creighton. Head coach Brenda Winkeler said the Salukis were still confident about their chances at qualifying for the MVC Tournament.

SIU lost the match to Creighton (19-9, 11-6 MVC) in four sets (30-20, 30-21, 28-30, 30-26).

“We did some things that we wanted to do with Creighton,” Winkeler said. “We lost to a good team but played very hard.”

At one point against Creighton, the Salukis were trailing 28-18 when they went on an 8-1 run to cut the lead to 29-26, but the Bluejays went on to win 30-26.

“We went on a great run. There was a lot of pressure,” Johannah Yutzy said. “It was a huge comeback, but it was too late. We need to play like that all the time.”

The senior middle blocker played well, Winkeler said, finishing with 20 kills and three block assists.

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Sophomore libero Kristy Elswick also turned in a strong performance, recording 29 digs in the match.

Four hard-fought matches set the stage for the showdown against Drake on Nov. 18.

SIU, though, couldn’t stop Drake’s senior outside hitter Eve Johnson, who finished the match with 32 kills and 15 digs en route to a four-game win for the Bulldogs (24-30, 30-23, 30-23, 30-28).

Winkeler said Johnson played “the game of her career,” and everything else seemed to go wrong for the Salukis, including an injury to sophomore outside hitter Kristie Berwanger during the third game.

She did not return, but Winkeler said Berwanger should be healthy in four to six weeks.

“We were playing pretty well, but our ball control was an issue, so we were having problems on offense,” Winkeler said. “Drake has been playing very good volleyball, and they had nothing to lose, so I have to give credit to them as well.”

Also in the match against Drake, Elswick notched a match-high 26 digs, finishing with her SIU single-season digs record at 569.

Winkeler said although the departure of the seniors, including Yutzy, who finished the season with a team-high 324 kills and a spot on the All-MVC Second Team, is disappointing, she’s excited about the prospects of 2007.

“I’m happy with our season. Of course, I expected more, but we did progress after having a lot of freshmen on the floor,” Winkeler said. “We got a bright future.”