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Winless weekend for SIU

The race for the last spot in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament just got a whole lot tighter.

SIU entered the weekend in sole possession of sixth-place, a match ahead of Indiana State and Evansville. But the Salukis' one-match lead is no more after two losses at the hands of Illinois State and Indiana State.

SIU (5-15, 3-6) is now in a three-way tie with Evansville and Indiana State for sixth-place in the MVC.

Evansville (10-11, 3-6) and Indiana State (7-10, 3-6) split their matches this weekend.

The Purple Aces defeated Indiana State 3-2 Friday and were swept by Illinois State Saturday.

"I was disappointed that we didn't split this weekend, but I realize that we still have nine matches in front of us, and that we can still accomplish our goal," said SIU head coach Sonya Locke.

Illinois State swept SIU Friday 30-22, 30-28, 30-23. The win snapped the Redbirds' three- match losing streak and was their 27th victory against the Salukis in the last 28 meetings.

Illinois State hit .262 and held SIU to a .088 attack percentage. Junior Marissa Washington, who came into the match with a .316 attack percentage, hit -.125 with one kill and two errors on just eight attempts. The negative attack percentage is the first of Washington's career.

Washington played in the first two games before Locke replaced her with sophomore Johannah Yutzy, who had four kills and hit a team-best .500.

Redshirt freshman Jaime Hinsenkamp led the Salukis with 11 kills and sophomore Holly Marita dished out 32 assists.

The Salukis' offense came alive against Indiana State Saturday with five players - Hinsenkamp, Washington, Jené Pulliam, Carrie Shephard and Haley Hann - recording double-figure kills.

Pulliam led the way, hitting .364 with 14 kills. Washington shook off Friday's performance with 11 kills and 10 digs. Marita put up her eighth double-double of the season with 50 assists and 13 digs.

SIU also played well on the defensive side of the net with 80 digs and a season-high 12 blocks. Washington led the team with five blocks, including three solo blocks, and Shephard had a season-high five block assists. Pulliam and Hann chipped in with four block assists apiece.

But the Salukis' performances were not enough as Indiana State ended a two-year, four-match losing streak to SIU with its 30-28, 25-30, 30-25, 30-24 win.

Indiana State's Ann Lidester had a match-high 19 kills. Sarah Smith and Kristin Widmar combined for 24 of the remaining 48 kills. Kerri Byrum had a match-high 54 assists.

The Sycamores had seven more kills and six more aces than SIU. The Salukis also gave up 11 points on serve-receive errors.

"I think we just got off to a slow start, and we just didn't come out fired up," Pulliam said. "We had to play catch-up the whole time."

SIU hosts Evansville Tuesday at 7 p.m., a match that could determine whether SIU is still playing Nov. 26 when the conference tournament begins. The winner will have sole possession of sixth place because Indiana State doesn't play again until Friday. SIU beat Evansville 3-2 Sept. 21.

"It's important for our team to realize where we are and do our best to continue to improve," Locke said. "We still have time to accomplish our goal."