Question:What is a good remedy to heal the fatigue of a team that has played on the

road two weekends in a row?

Answer:Invite to Carbondale two teams that are winless on the road.

The SIU volleyball team will take on Creighton and Drake this weekend at Davies

Gymnasium and will face two teams that are a combined 0-15 on the road this season.

The Salukis defeated both teams at their respective venues earlier in the season, so

they are not expecting any problems with either in Carbondale.

“It’s nice to have a home weekend,” said senior outside hitter Tara Cains. “Since

we beat them on the road, we should definitely take care of them at home.”

But the prospect of an upset is always there, and SIU said it will not take a relaxed

attitude toward either team.

Creighton, though only 1-10 in the Missouri Valley Conference and 1-17 overall, is

still dangerous, not only because of its youth, but because of the increased production

stemming from its new offense.

Since SIU last saw the Bluejays, they have converted their setter, Jaden Custer, to an

outside hitter and switched to a two-setter offense. Head coach Howard Wallace said the

new setters have vastly improved the team’s attack and have been able to make intelligent

decisions to keep the offense fluid.

“Our overall play has improved and part of that is decision making,” Wallace said.

Creighton has struggled since it’s big two, Melissa Walsh and Kailey Reyes,

graduated. The Bluejays are on pace for their worst season since they joined the MVC.

They are struggling, but like any other team, Creighton can be dangerous.

“Creighton has some veterans, but they lost their two main, main, people,” said

senior outside hitter Kristie Kemner. “But they’re hanging in there and all it takes is a

The same can be said for Drake, which SIU head coach Sonya Locke said is one of,

if not the youngest and most inexperienced teams in the conference.

The Bulldogs are on average taller than SIU, which is really the only advantage they

have over the Salukis.

Drake is 4-19 overall and is 2-9 in the MVC, and it’s a realistic probability that SIU

will crush them. The Salukis won at Drake earlier in the year 30-19, 30-21 and 30-18.

But Locke said the Salukis cannot afford to take anything for granted at this point.

Just like with Creighton, Locke and the players refuse to put Drake down and insist

the Bulldogs are worthy opponents.

“We just aren’t going to underestimate any team that comes in here at this point,

regardless of what their record is,” Locke said.

SIU needs to win this weekend’s matches to stay ahead of Illinois State and give

itself a decent cushion going into next weekend’s matches at No. 10 Northern Iowa and

To junior setter Britten Follett, this weekend presents a pair of must-win matches.

“We have to win these matches because we don’t want to put ourselves in the

situation where we have to beat Northern Iowa at Northern Iowa,” Follett said. “Not to say

that we’re not going to aim for it, but we don’t want to in a have-to situation.”

Reporter Michael Brenner can be reached at [email protected]