SIUC volleyball coach Sonya Locke picked up her 100th career victory at the school as the Salukis defeated the University of Evansville Friday night at Davies Gymnasium.

The Salukis won the match in five games, 15-10, 13-15, 15-9, 10-15, 15-5. It was the team’s third-straight win, as SIUC upped its record to 7-7 overall and 4-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Locke, who is in her seventh season with the Salukis, owns a 100-96 record. She said it was a relief to finally achieve the milestone.

Advertisement

Thank God, I finally got there, Locke said. To be real honest, I didn’t expect it to take almost seven years to do it.

Unfortunately for Locke, her 100th win was not one of the team’s better performances. The Salukis were never able to gain complete control of the match as they struggled against the MVC’s last-place team.

Junior middle blocker Laura Pier was disappointed that the team was unable put the game away early.

Fortunately, our passing and defense was there, Pier said. We won, but it shouldn’t have gone five games.

In the first four games of the match, SIUC recorded a .212 hitting percentage before finishing off with a .444 performance in game five. Junior outside hitter Marlo Moreland paced the Salukis with 17 kills to give her a team-high 169 on the season.

Defense made up for the poor offensive showing, as the Salukis recorded 93 total team digs. Sophomore outside hitter Marrisa Kimbrough led the way with 18, while sophomore setter Debbie Barr added 16.

Junior middle blocker Monique Galvin said inconsistency was a large factor in the team’s struggles.

Advertisement*

At times it was up and down, but we pulled through, she said. I’m actually pleased with our defense. We accomplished our goal we set in practice, which was to step up defensively.

But Locke was impressed with how her team found a way to win, despite the way her team was playing. She said her team was able handle balls hit into what she calls gray areas.

There were a lot of balls that fell in what we call gray areas,’ which means the balls aren’t going right to someone, but falling between two people, Locke said. Early, we didn’t handle them well, but in the fifth game we were able to control them.

This weekend, the Salukis have road matches against Creighton University and Drake University.

Galvin knows the team will have to play better to keep its winning streak intact.

There is always room for improvement, Galvin said. Once we put it together mentally and physically, we’ll be able to stay off the roller coaster.