SIU women’s volleyball wrapped up another tough Missouri Valley Conference weekend where it faced Wichita State Friday and was able to get its first win at Missouri State since 1998 Saturday.

The Salukis have split the last three weekends against MVC foes. That trend continued this past weekend as they fell to conference power Wichita State in three sets but showed poise in beating Missouri State in five sets.

The Shockers entered the match undefeated in MVC play with only three losses on the season. SIU fell in the match 25-23, 25-19 and 25-21.

Errors were an issue for both teams in the first set. Each team had eight errors but WSU won the kill battle 15 to 12. There was only one tie in the final set as the Shockers found a spark and came away with the sweep.

Coach Justin Ingram said his team had chances against the Shockers but could not capitalize on them.

Senior outside hitter Jessica Whitehead led the team in kills with 11 and was the only Saluki with double-digit kills.

Freshman setter Hannah Kaminsky said her team talked about the match against the Shockers.

“I think we discussed the loss (Friday) and said that’s not the team we want to be,” Kaminsky said. “That’s not how we want to play.”

Sophomore middle blocker Taylor Pippen said when playing a tough team, such as Wichita State, positives can always be found.

“Wichita’s a really good team and playing them we did some really good things,” Pippen said. “We just need to come out stronger during conference play.”

Whitehead compared the match against MSU to an amusement park ride.

“We were on a roller-coaster but we didn’t give up,” Whitehead said.

After the loss, the team had to endure the four-hour bus ride to Springfield, Mo., to get ready to face the Bears Saturday night.

The Salukis showed they are a team that can rebound after a tough loss. They dropped the first set 25-21 but fought back to grab the next two, 25-23 and 25-22. The Bears did not go down without a fight and forced a fifth set with a 26-24 win in the fourth. The Salukis had a 24-22 lead in the fourth but could not get that crucial match point and let MSU back into the match.

The fifth and deciding set did not disappoint as the Bears had match point at 14-13 and the Salukis did not falter and came away with the 17-15 fifth set win and the match.

Four Salukis finished the Missouri State match with at least 11 kills. Whitehead finished with 21 kills while Pippen set her new career high with 18 kills.

“The setters did a really good job setting tonight and our defense was really good,” Pippen said.

Ingram said the setters are the deciding factor in where the kills are going to come from.

“The more accurate the first ball hit is, the more options we have,” Ingram said.

The win against the Bears helped the Salukis improve their MVC record to 3-3. The team has a week of practice before welcoming Drake to Davies Gym Friday and Northern Iowa Saturday.

Ingram said every team in the MVC is solid. He said teams must play their best every night and all the teams in the conference have a chance to win.

“I think everybody’s pretty talented, but at the same time everyone’s always beatable,” Ingram said. “That’s what I like about the league.”