Salukis salvage weekend tournament

Salukis salvage weekend tournament

By Tyler Dixon

 

After dropping its first seven sets of the Marshall Invitational in Huntington, W.Va., the Saluki volleyball team found the grit head coach Justin Ingram spoke of earlier in the season, as they won the final match in four sets.

The Salukis fell to Marshall and Kent State in straight sets and lost the first set against Eastern Kentucky before winning the next three.

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Ingram said his team is still in the process of finding consistency in its lineup.

“Each weekend seems to be a different kind of lineup and formation,” he said. “We’re still in the phase of figuring out what’s going to work well over time.”

Senior outside hitter Jessica Whitehead led the Salukis in kills with 37 during the tournament. Sophomore middle blocker Taylor Pippen finished with 22 kills and senior outside hitter Elly Braaten tallied 19.

Freshman setter Meg Viggars said her team figured out what they were doing incorrectly and they changed it for the last match. Viggars said her freshman year has been a challenge, but she’s really enjoying it.

“We realized what we weren’t doing and we fixed it for the last match,” she said. “We played really well.”

SIU had a streak during the tournament of seven straight dropped sets. Whitehead said it has been difficult going through this rut with her fellow seniors.

“It is kind of tough for all of us,” she said. “All three of the seniors, we constantly keep saying some things about what we need to do. We just need to do them.”

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Pippen said her team continued to show improvements on the court, but they have to keep fighting against certain opponents.

“I think we did a lot of good things, but we also realized we need to fight harder against some teams,” Pippen said.

SIU has shown flashes of great play during the season, including a five-set win against UConn in the opener and a sweep of SLU in the last home match. They have shown toughness against Middle Tennessee State and SEMO.

Ingram said his team has the ability to put their game in another gear.

“I think there’s a different level this team can play on,” Ingram said. “At times, we’re at that level.”

Ingram said one problem that has been facing his team is not being able to side-out quickly enough. A side-out point is when the team serving the ball does not win the point. He said it is vital to score when his team is receiving the ball.

“There’s a sense of urgency that needs to get put on that first point,” Ingram said.

Ingram and his team will welcome Murray State to Davies Gym on Tuesday for Pack the House night.

The Racers are coming off three wins at the Wright State Invitational against Wright State, Indiana State and Robert Morris.

Ingram said his team will keep showing the fans at Davies what they can do.

“We feel great playing in Davies and looking forward to yet again putting a good product in front of our fans,” he said.

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