Though it may cause several of her players to receive floor burns, knee scrapes and bruises, SIUC volleyball coach Sonya Locke says defense has played a major role in her team’s success this season.

The Salukis, 9-10 on the season and 6-5 in the Missouri Valley Conference, have been one of the better defensive teams in the conference this year.

The team’s 2.63 blocks per game rank second in the MVC to the University of Northern Iowa (2.75). Junior middle blocker Monique Galvin’s 1.36 blocks per game leads the conference.

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Locke said that if the team wants to win the school’s first-ever MVC title, her players must continue to improve on the defensive side of the net.

The Salukis have fared well in matches where the team performed well defensively.

(Defense) has gotten us through a lot of matches, Locke said. We’ve always worked on it, but I can’t say I’ve talked about it as much as this year. From here on out, every practice is going to be something defensive-oriented.

Locke has come up with several drills to increase the defensive statistics, such as total digs and team blocks.

For sophomore defensive specialist Brandy Olson, the pit drill transforms practice into game-like situations. The drill focuses on turning offense out of defensive digs. Balls constantly are thrown to players until 10 successful sets are created from the digs.

Olson said this is the most difficult of Locke’s many drills.

She always tells us how she thinks of drills in the middle of the night, Olson said. With this drill, your legs are screaming so much because they just keep hitting (balls) at you. It just gets harder and harder because you get so tired.

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Locke is not the only coach to prepare the players for matches. Assistant John Pfaff’s presence during practice has enabled freshman middle blocker Molly Meeker to adjust to the college game quicker.

Pfaff conducts a drill in which he serves to the players, giving the team a tougher ball to dig or block. Pfaff, who played his collegiate volleyball at Indiana University, presents a difficult challenge for team members.

Meeker said playing against male competition in practice allows her to have an advantage in game situations.

John has a pretty high vertical leap, and balls come really hard, Meeker said. If you can play defense against him, you can pretty much play against anybody in the conference.

During her seven years of coaching at SIUC, Locke has seen several great defensive players come through the program. She said she has been impressed by former setter Kim Golebiewski (1992-95) and current Salukis Debbie Barr and Marrisa Kimbrough.

Locke recalls a 10-dig effort by Kimbrough against Southwest Missouri State University Sept. 26 as one of the better defensive performances she has seen.

Marrisa played defense out of her mind against Southwest Missouri State, Locke said. It kept us in those games and when she did make a good dig, I was screaming, Get a kill,’ because that’s a good opportunity to get it done.

Meeker said she is lucky to have a coach who takes so much pride in defense.

(Defense) is my favorite thing, Meeker said. It’s the greatest feeling to block somebody. When we win, Sonya credits our defense, but when we lose, she says the defense broke through.

The Salukis play Friday at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kan., and Saturday at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, Mo.