SIU volleyball has rough weekend at Flyer Classic

Senior setter Hannah Kaminsky sets the ball for junior middle hitter Kolby Meeks on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016, during SIU’s 3-0 win against Murray State in Davies Gym. (Autumn Suyko | @AutumnSuyko_DE)

By Jesse Robertson
September 18, 2016

Saluki volleyball dropped two of its three matches this weekend during the Flyer Classic in Dayton, Ohio.

SIU (9-5) won its first match of the weekend against Youngstown State, 3-1 (25-15, 20-25, 25-22, 25-21).

During the match, SIU’s offense led it to victory. Junior middle hitter Kolby Meeks had a team-high 16 kills to go with seven block assists and junior outside hitter Andrea Estrada had 11 kills and 13 digs.

Youngstown State (6-8) was led by senior middle hitter Lori Vanbeek, who had a match-high 19 kills. Junior outside hitter Sam Brown, who had eight digs, was second with 16 kills.

As a team, SIU had nine service aces to the Penguins’ zero. Youngstown State also committed more errors than the Salukis, 25-17.

Left to right: Junior outside hitter Abby Barrow, junior middle hitter Alex Rosignol and senior setter/hitter Meg Viggars jump for the ball during the Salukis’ 3-2 win over Central Florida on Friday, Sept. 2, 2016, at SIU Arena. (Autumn Suyko | @AutumnSuyko_DE)

The second day and match of the classic was not as successful as the first for SIU, as they lost 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-20) to Loyola Marymount (8-3). The Salukis were swept for just the second time all season.

LMU outhit SIU (.417 to .365) and had 53 total kills compared to the Salukis’ 39.

Outside of blocks, Loyola Marymount outperformed SIU in every major statistical category.

Senior setter Meg Viggars had nine kills, hitting .500 for SIU, while Estrada hit .350 and tallied eight kills and three block assists.

LMU was led to victory by junior outside hitter Sarah Sponcil who had 20 kills. Redshirt freshman middle hitter Sascha Dominque had seven kills and hit .636.

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In the final match, the Dawgs faced the host Dayton Flyers (13-1) and fell 3-0 in a very close match (25-23, 25-21, 25-22).

SIU finished with six total team blocks while Meeks continued her hot stretch with 10 kills in 24 attacks and contributed six block assists. Estrada had 12 kills, two block assists and eight digs.

The Flyers were spearheaded by junior setter Jane Emmenecker, who had a team-high 40 assists and 10 digs. Junior outside hitter Jessica Sloan led the team with 13 kills and junior middle hitter Amber Erhahon had 10 kills in 15 chances.

The Dawgs play at 7 p.m. Friday against Northern Iowa in Davies Gym to open up conference play.

Staff writer Jesse Robertson can be reached at [email protected] or 618-536-3333.

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