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Salukis defeat Aces in sixth-place battle

It's become a custom in Missouri Valley Conference play.

For the past three seasons, Evansville has traveled to Carbondale only to walk out of Davies Gymnasium and onto its team bus with a loss.

And the tradition continued Tuesday night.

SIU (6-15, 4-6) defeated Evansville 30-25, 26-30, 30-32, 30-26, 15-13 in another epic battle in the two teams' historic rivalry.

Carrie Shephard gave the Salukis a 12-8 lead in game five, preventing two Evansville kills before knocking one of her own to the floor.

"It was pretty intense," said Shephard, who finished the match with 18 kills and 14 digs. "I was just trying to get the ball down on their side, but I just kept going after the ball and pursuing."

SIU was up 14-9 when the Purple Aces threatened to tie with a 4-0 run, which brought them within a single point of the Salukis.

Evansville's comeback never came to fruition as Shephard and Holly Marita blocked a potential Purple Aces kills to give the Salukis their seventh win against Evansville in eight matches.

"They never should have gotten to 13," said SIU head coach Sonya Locke. "We relaxed and made two straight errors. You can't do that in a rally score game only to 15."

SIU came into Tuesday's match tied with both Evansville and Indiana State. But with Indiana State not playing until Friday, the Salukis took full control of sixth-place and their own playoff destiny. The top six teams in the MVC make the postseason tournament.

"If we're going to stay in the race, we have to win," Locke said. "That's the bottom line.

"I live in the real world and I want our players to live in the real world, and so we can't sugarcoat where we are right now. We had to win this match."

Marissa Washington, Jené Pulliam, Jaime Hinsenkamp and Haley Hann joined Shephard in double-figure kills. Washington finished with 17 kills, 16 digs and hit .483.

Holly Marita recorded her ninth double-double of the season with a match-high 64 assists and 16 digs.

Evansville hit just .131 for the match compared to SIU's .217. The Purple Aces won game three despite a -.018 attack percentage, a rarity in any volleyball match.

Evansville (10-12, 3-7) has not come away with a road victory against the Salukis since Nov. 16, 2000. The win was Locke's 21st against Evansville in her 14-year career, the most wins against any Valley opponent.

Tuesday's match was the second five-game match between SIU and Evansville this season. SIU defeated the Purple Aces 3-2 in the first meeting of the season.

"We're up three match points and they come back and almost tie us," Locke said. "It's crazy the momentum shifts that occur in our matches. The energy levels go up and down and in and out.

"I'm just happy we got away with the win."

The Salukis have the weekend off and don't play again until Oct. 26 when they host Murray State in non-conference action.