As the Missouri Valley Conference volleyball season reaches the halfway point, SIUC is in the No. 4 spot and in the running to earn a berth in this year’s six-team tournament.

SIUC was picked to finish No. 6 in this year’s preseason coaches poll, but have beaten two conference foes that were picked to finish ahead of them Bradley and Southwest Missouri State.

The Salukis, now 9-6 overall, beat Bradley on Saturday to improve to 7-3 in the Valley. The Salukis lost a tie-breaker to Bradley for the fourth and final spot in last season’s tournament race.

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To help ensure a win over the Braves, SIUC coach Sonya Locke looked to her bench for support.

Freshman outside hitter Marlo Moreland came off the bench to help lead the Salukis to victory over the Braves. Moreland had 18 kills and posted a .469 hitting percentage. Prior to Saturday’s match, Moreland hit only .179 in four previous matches. Moreland may provide a strong offense at left-side for the remainder of the season, provided she remains consistent.

SIUC’s wins at home have been a key factor behind its 7-3 record. So far, the spikers are 5-1 in Davies Gymnasium.

Locke said winning all home games are very important in a teams effort to get to the MVC tournament, but now that SIUC has dropped one, they will have to make up for it on the road.

To at least be in the conference tournament, we needed to have won all of our home matches and split on the road that’s the minimum, Locke said. We’ve lost one at home so we need to pick up another one on the road.

We need to be one up on the road instead of one down at home.

Locke said the Valley race is tight now and is going to stay that way.

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Who gets in the tournament would have won their way in, she said. There are not going to be any givens.

SIUC will host Creighton and Wichita State this weekend. The Salukis beat both teams earlier in the season. The Salukis knocked off Creighton in three straight but took five matches before beating Wichita State.

Northern Iowa remains undefeated in the Valley and has a firm grip on the No. 1 spot. The Panthers are 10-0 in league action and 14-1 overall. Northern Iowa established a MVC record for consecutive regular-season with wins against Creighton and Wichita State over the weekend. UNI has now won 25-straight matches.

The Panthers are also ranked No. 2 in this weeks Division I American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 Poll. In terms of offense, Northern Iowa has been among the nation’s best the last three years. Last season, UNI hit .303 as a team to finish third nationally and in 1995, they are hitting .272, to place among the top-30 teams in the country last week.

However, UNI’s bid to remain in the top spot will be tested tonight as it takes on Drake in Des Moines, Iowa. The Bulldogs are No. 2 in the MVC, posting a 9-2 record. Drake is off to its best start in school history and enters tonight’s match with an eight-game winning streak.

The Redbirds of Illinois State took over the No. 3 spot in the Valley after beating SIUC last weekend. ISU is now 8-2 in league action. ISU’s Andi Hardwick led the Redbird attack against the Salukis with 19 kills and a .424 hitting percentage. For her efforts, Hardwick earned MVC Player of the Week honors for the second-straight week.

As if Hardwick weren’t enough, ISU’s Patti Hoppa has had a hitting percentage of .300 or better in 17 career matches. The Redbirds are 17-0 in those matches.

The Redbirds will host SIUC in Bloomington on November 4.

At 6-4, Southwest Missouri State is in the No. 5 spot, right behind SIUC. After this weekend SMSU will have the advantage of hosting six of their last eight conference matches at home. The Lady Bears host the Salukis on October 22. The Salukis beat SMSU in five games in their first match of the season at SIUC.

Wichita State and Bradley are tied for the No. 6 spot. Both teams post a 4-6 record.

Rounding out the remaining four spots are Indiana State and Creighton, both at 3-7. Creighton posts no threat to anyone at 1-9 and Tulsa has dropped 10 straight Valley matches. At 0-10, the Golden Hurricane is looking to record its first win of the season.