Consistency is a key ingredient to winning.

Unfortunately, that ingredient was lacking in the SIUC women’s volleyball team’s bid to cook up their sixth straight win.

SIUC lost a five-game match to the University of Memphis Wednesday night, 15-7, 14-16, 15-13, 13-15, 13-15. SIUC is now 4-0 in Missouri Valley Conference action and 6-3 overall.

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Inconsistency has plagued the spikers all season long, Wednesday night being no exception.

Coach Sonya Locke, disappointed with SIUC’s up and down style of play, called the match a war of attrition.

The match was close, but we were very inconsistent, Locke said. We did not pass, we did not block. Our defense was good and it was not good.

Despite the final score and SIUC’s inconsistent performance, Locke said Memphis was not the better team.

We did not play bad, we just played inconsistent, she said. The better team lost.

Locke said the loss took a back seat on the bus and was forgotten as the team headed back to Carbondale.

We were tired of talking about it. It’s behind us and it’s not important she said. I would be a lot less disappointed had we won the match. But it’s not a conference match and it won’t hurt us in the long run.

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Despite the loss, several spikers were able to post some positive numbers during the match.

Senior middle blocker Kelly Parke and senior outside hitter Heather Herdes each had16 kills. Senior outside hitter Beth Diehl, along with senior setter Kim Golebiewski, posted 14 digs apiece.

Herdes is ranked No. 4 in the nation in ace average at 0.90 per game. Last week she was ranked No. 19. Herdes needs only five more aces to take over the No. 5 spot on SIUC’s all-time list. The No. 5 spot is currently held by coach Locke.

In the MVC, Golebiewski ranks No. 6 in assists and No. 8 in digs. With 2,056 assists, she is currently No. 3 on SIUC’s all-time list.

At 4-0, SIUC shares a first-place tie with Illinois State in the MVC. However, SIUC may stand alone in the top spot after this weekend as ISU battles Northern Iowa, who stands at 3-0 in MVC action. The last conference loss Northern Iowa suffered was at the hands of ISU on Sept. 17, 1994. Since losing to the Redbirds, the Panthers have won 18-consecutive Valley matches.

SIUC will play host to two Valley foes this weekend. On Saturday the Salukis host the Lady Bears of Southwest Missouri State University.

The Lady Bears head into Davies Gymnasium 1-3 in conference action. Since 1975, SMSU has dominated the series 17-6. However, the Salukis have taken the last two against the Lady Bears.

On Sunday, SIUC will host the Golden Hurricane of Tulsa. Tulsa is seeking its first win of the year. The Salukis have yet to lose to the Golden Hurricane and have a commanding 7-0 record against Tulsa.

SMSU is at No. 9 spot, while Tulsa ranks last in MVC standings.

Despite their records, Locke said she is not going to take either team for granted.

Tulsa almost beat Illinois State in Tulsa, she said. I think anyone who comes to the matches this weekend will be pleasantly surprised.