Daily Egyptian Reporter 16

SIUC volleyball coach Sonya Locke learned a lot about the Salukis’ depth in capturing the championship of the Evansville Invitational over the weekend.

Locke was able to use all 15 players in wins over the University of Evansville Friday and Eastern Kentucky University and Western Illinois University Saturday. The three victories evened the Salukis’ record at 12-12 overall and 7-7 in the Missouri Valley Conference.

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Now I know how talented our depth is, and you can look at the stats and see that everybody played, Locke said. What I saw over the weekend is that I can have more confidence in the depth of our team. Giving more players the opportunity to play is going to strengthen our team.

SIUC defeated Western Illinois in the championship match 15-10, 15-4, 9-15, 15-11. Junior middle blocker Laura Pier led the team with 17 kills. The Salukis also received 15 and 10 kills from junior outside hitter Wendy Uhls and freshman middle blocker Molly Meeker, respectively.

Locke was impressed by her team’s overall effort, especially Uhls’ play.

It was just a matter of her (Uhls) taking advantage of the opportunity she gets, and that goes for any player on my team, Locke said.

The quartet of Uhls, Meeker, Pier and junior outside hitter Marlo Moreland accounted for 56 kills against WIU.

Uhls said the reserves played an important role because of the number of matches played.

Considering we had to play three games instead of two, I think we played well, she said. Because we were playing teams we could definitely beat, it was good playing time for everyone.

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Included in the championship win for the Salukis was a rally from seven points to take the opening game. Down 10-3, SIUC scored the final 12 points for the victory.

Moreland said the comeback was a result of the team’s ability to overcome early passing errors in the game.

I think we were serving really well later in the game, Moreland said. We were able to have a consistent energy level and even when we got behind we didn’t give up.

Pier and sophomore setter Debbie Barr were named co-Most Valuable Players of the tournament. Barr handed out 58 assists against WIU to place her third on the school’s list with 2,592.

Barr and Pier were just a couple of the Salukis to influence the tournament outcome, as the team had eight players reach double figures in kills or digs over the three-game tournament.

In the 15-13, 13-15, 15-11, 15-7 win over Evansville, junior outside hitter Lindsay Fisher recorded 15 kills, while sophomore outside hitter Marrisa Kimbrough added 12 digs.

Kimbrough and senior outside hitter Erika Holladay shined in the Salukis’ 15-10, 15-4, 9-15, 15-11 victory over Eastern Kentucky. Holladay had 18 kills and 12 digs, while Kimbrough added 13 kills.

Moreland said the team needed this kind of performance this weekend, as the Salukis had been on a four-game losing streak.

I think it was very important, she said. We’ve got our confidence back, and we were able to stay in the (MVC) race.

The Salukis return to Davies Gymnasium for conference matches this weekend. They finish the home schedule against Creighton University at 7 p.m. Friday and Drake University at 7 p.m. Saturday.