SIU volleyball earned revenge against one rival, but was beat by another.

The Salukis split the weekend matches with a 3-1 win against Indiana State on Friday and a 3-0 loss to Illinois State on Saturday.

Both teams defeated the Salukis earlier this season at their home courts.

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Coach Justin Ingram said Indiana State is red hot, and it was nice to snap its four-match win streak. He said he was happy to start the second half of the conference season with a win.

“A new chapter is getting turned with a 1-0 start,” Ingram said.

Ingram said the team’s season leading 14 blocks were crucial to the win.

Sophomore setter/ hitter Meg Viggars recorded her second triple-double of the season with 12 kills, 25 assists and 14 digs.

“You just get this grudge against teams,” sophomore setter/ hitter Meg Viggars said. “Coming out fighting from the start was what we had to do, and we did it.”

Redshirt freshman outside hitter Andrea Estrada led the team with 18 kills on Friday. She said the fans played a big factor in the win. The attendance of 615 was the 10^th highest in Davies Gym history.

Freshman middle hitter Alex Rosignol made her first start of the season. She played all four sets and recorded 6 kills. Rosignol said she was happy with how she performed and she thinks she deserves more playing time.

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“This past week I have been working my behind off, and it just finally paid off,” Rosignol said. “I’ve been focusing in more. I focus in normally, but I focused in this week on what they’re saying and I watched more game film.”

Coach Justin Ingram said Rosignol has shown so much improvement recently.

Junior hitter Taylor Pippen led the team with 11 kills Saturday. The Salukis had set point in the first set against the Redbirds, but fell 28-26.

“We backed away from the game plan at critical times,” Ingram said. “We made some unfortunate errors that cost us points.”

The Redbirds are 11-0 in conference play after the victory.

“They’re a tough team but they’re beatable,” Pippen said. “All three sets we were in it. The first set we had game point, I think we let it slip away.”

The Salukis play at 7 p.m. Friday at Bradley and 7 p.m. Saturday at Loyola.

Aaron Graff can be contacted at [email protected], on Twitter @Aarongraff_DE or 536-3311 ext. 269