With a victory or an Indiana State loss, SIU clinches first MVC tournament berth since 1998

This weekend could have several milestones in store for the SIU volleyball team.

With an SIU win over either Bradley or Northern Iowa or an Indiana State loss to Illinois State, the Salukis will clinch their first berth to the Missouri Valley Conference tournament since 1998.

None of the players currently on the Salukis’ roster has ever been to the tournament, but as far as they are concerned, they are already in.

“I feel like it’s already sealed, to be honest with you,” said senior middle blocker Lindsey Schultz. “I know one more win would really seal it, but it seems like it’s already sealed. We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing and get our job done.”

Another milestone within striking distance is senior outside hitter Kristie Kemner needing just 24 more kills to own the SIU all-time kills record.

Kemner knows the team needs to play well for her to have a shot at the mark, and, while she preferred to break the mark in front of the fans at Davies Gymnasium, she just wants to get it out of the way so that there are no more distractions for the Salukis’ stretch run.

“I’d like to do it at home, but I’m not waiting it out any longer,” Kemner said. “I’m going to break it, and let’s get it over with.”

For the Salukis (18-7, 9-4 MVC) to clinch a postseason berth, they will need to go through two of the top teams in the conference – Northern Iowa and Bradley.

In the final road trip of the season for SIU, the team travels to Peoria to face the Braves Friday night before turning north and going to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to take on the cream of the MVC crop in the Panthers.

Northern Iowa, the No. 8-ranked team in the nation, has lost just twice this season and stands tied with Southwest Missouri State atop the MVC standings with an 11-1 conference record.

The lone team to beat the Panthers (22-2) is SIU’s Friday night opponent, Bradley (16-6, 9-3 MVC).

“It is the toughest back-to-back weekend that we face in the conference,” said SIU head coach Sonya Locke. “We just know that it’s going to be a tough weekend … our job is to put forth our best effort when we’re at their places and that could result in a win.

“If we do anything less than that, it won’t result in a win.”

When SIU went up against the two teams earlier in the season, the Panthers swept the Salukis, but SIU gutted out a five-match win over the Braves.

Bradley currently sits just above SIU in the conference standings, with the two teams ranked No. 3 and No. 4 in the MVC, making Friday’s match an important one in terms of conference seeding.

Kemner said that in the last meeting between the two teams, the Salukis won because they played better defense than the Braves and that is what they’ll have to do again on Friday.

“We were watching film downstairs and the biggest key to that game, why they lost, is they didn’t come up with the big digs,” Kemner said. “I think defense is going to have to be the biggest key to winning that game.”

It is imperative that the Salukis jump out to a quick start against both the Braves and Panthers.

For the season, SIU is 17-1 in matches where it wins game one and just 1-6 when it falls in the first game.

“When we play a team like Northern Iowa and we have the opportunity to get them down, it’s fun,” Schultz said. “It’s an ego boost for you. Put a damper on their fire and especially when they have such a strong winning streak at home.”

For seniors Kemner, Schultz, Qiana Nelson, Tara Cains, Yoko Hattori and Amber Britton and fourth-year juniors Britten Follett and Kelly Harman, the chance to go to the MVC tournament is something they have worked toward for the past four years.

Kemner said it might have been a long time coming, but she’ll happily take it.

“Maybe just the first three years it wasn’t our turn to get into the tournament,” Kemner said. “I’d rather have it now than never, so who cares about the past three years. It’s now that we have to worry about and [the feeling] is great.”

Reporter Jens Deju can be reached at [email protected]