Shocks at Missouri State (Sat) and at SIU (Mon)

[ShockerFever]

Does the Carroll-Northwest match follow this one?

Seriously, this reminds me of a City League setup. Balls getting stuck up in the rafters?

[1972Shocker]

Evansville also plays in a similar band box.

[flyingMoose]

Set Three

Southern Illinois 25-20 Shockers

The Salukis take a 2-1 lead in the match. The Shockers had an early small lead, before the Salukis tied it at nine. From a 16-15 lead for the Shocks, Southern ran off six points in a row to take control of the set at 21-16, and they finished it off. In the set, the Shockers hit .053 to .037. Shimen and Katie have twelve kills, Abbie and Mikaela have seven.

[ShockerFever]

interesting to see the swim/dive teams sitting in the stands (well, standing) in their speedos.

LMAO. Just caught that.

[flyingMoose]

In this fourth set, the Shockers have gone to the 5-1 which brings Regan Peare and Mash into the rotation. Jody and Jenny are out.

Set Four

Southern Illinois 22-25 Shockers

From 4-4, the Salukis crept out to a 10-6 lead. The Shocks managed to take a 15-14 lead on the service of Regan. The set was tied again at 19-19, but the Shockers took a 23-20 lead and finished out the set. In the set, the Shocks hit .395 to .286. Katie has sixteen kills, Mikaela has fifteen and Abbie and Shimen have thirteen.

We go to a fifth set.

[IAmWu]

Back and forth 5th set so far, just like the rest of the match. 8-7 SIU midway through.

[ShockerFever]

Those diving goobers probably should have gone easier on yelling at the ladies at such close range. That's the closest they'll ever be to a member of the female sex.

SIU announcers calling it the biggest win in program history. That's what happens when you beat WSU in anything. Biggest win in program history and they're still looking up at WSU in the standings. Don't be shocked if SIU starts to tailspin from here after blowing their load in this one, i.e. Super Bowl.

[flyingMoose]

Set Five

Southern Illinois 15-10 Shockers

The Salukis take the match 3-2. After following behind early at 1-4, the Shocks tied the match at 4 and then again at 8. From there, the Salukis dominated to take the match. For the match, the Shocks hit .208 versus .243. Mikaela had seventeen kills, Katie had sixteen, Abbie and Shimen had fourteen.


Post-match comments

Lambo did not think we came out ready to compete. In the third set, Mackenzie rows were slow which played into the Saluki defensive system (see pre-match comments). Thus, the switch to the 5-1 in the fourth set. The Shocks had too many errors including the errors in the fifth set. The SA/SE line was 5/14 for the Shocks versus 5/4, and the blocks were nine versus fifteen. Lambo also thought the Salukis won the serve-receive game. He doesn't think anyone else will challenge them.

[flyingMoose]

Also,

Evansville 0-3 Missouri State
23, 17, 23

[1972Shocker]

Kind of expected that this would go 5 but I also was anticipating that the Shocks would play better than they did. The Shocks kind of reverted back to the high error rate VB that plagued them earlier in the year. Also Lambo was forced to shelve the 6-2 in favor of the 5-1 because Mckenzie's group was playing much slower which was kind of feeding into SIU's strengths. Mckenzie was also having a tough time getting to some balls because of her lack of height and because the Shocks were having a tough time dealing with SIU's serving. SIU won the serve and passing aspect of the game.

Winning 3 of these past 4 tough road matches is not a bad outcome although the Shocks had put themselves in a position to separate from the pack. The Shocks still have a tough Road match at Loyola and two tough home matches with UNI and SIU. The outcome of those matches will determine how the regular season shakes out and how the Shocks will fare RPI-wise. If the Shocks can win 2 out of those 3 matches with one of the wins over SIU I think they should be okay.

As I have stated previously the competitive balance in the Valley this year is as good as I have seen it.

[JayJ79]

SIU announcers calling it the biggest win in program history. That's what happens when you beat WSU in anything. Biggest win in program history and they're still looking up at WSU in the standings. Don't be shocked if SIU starts to tailspin from here after blowing their load in this one, i.e. Super Bowl.

I never put too much stock into what ESPN3 announcers say (since with these matches, it is usually the "local talent", often students even). It's a big win for SIU, certainly, but I'd hardly call it their biggest in program history. SIU had some decent teams in the 80s (back before those announcers were born), but SIU's biggest win in recent program history would probably be their wins against UNI in 2013 (they had lost 41 straight matches against the Panthers prior to that, and 51 of 52), and they also advanced to the MVC finals that year (losing to the Shockers in Wichita).

Yes, they are still looking up at WSU in the standings, but only half a game, with both teams having 10 wins. And I wouldn't hold your breath waiting on a Saluki tailspin. There might be a bit of a hangover effect this weekend, but they only have one match, and that is at home against an Evansville team that is sitting at 2-11 in conference after their home loss tonight to Missouri State.

[JayJ79]

I'm kind of jealous of the atmosphere that SIU has. Yes, it's a tiny gym, but that means it doesn't take much to make it into an intimidating environment (as opposed to a big arena like Koch or even the McLeod), and they got a good (and rambunctious) student turnout (even if it was just the swim and dive team). Kind of reminds me of when UNI played in the old West Gym (where they ran up two of the longest home winning streaks in the nation).

[WuDrWu]

SIU Head Coach Justin Ingram is an arrogant prack, imho.

He announced 2 seasons ago there was a new sheriff in town and that SIU would soon be dominating the Valley. He may be right, but rarely do you announce this after losing a championship match.

Now, while I personally love all the good aspects of volleyball, a little strong competition is a good thing. SIU is young and will be good, very good next year. They got this one, we get 'em back here and I'll bet they have their hands full when they come to the Chuck.

[JayJ79]

SIU Head Coach Justin Ingram is an arrogant prack, imho.

Not everyone can be loved by all like Chris Lamb and Gregg Marshall ;op
(but you're right, and I'm not much of a fan of his personality either)

[ShockerFever]

I never put too much stock into what ESPN3 announcers say (since with these matches, it is usually the "local talent", often students even). It's a big win for SIU, certainly, but I'd hardly call it their biggest in program history. SIU had some decent teams in the 80s (back before those announcers were born), but SIU's biggest win in recent program history would probably be their wins against UNI in 2013 (they had lost 41 straight matches against the Panthers prior to that, and 51 of 52), and they also advanced to the MVC finals that year (losing to the Shockers in Wichita).

Yes, they are still looking up at WSU in the standings, but only half a game, with both teams having 10 wins. And I wouldn't hold your breath waiting on a Saluki tailspin. There might be a bit of a hangover effect this weekend, but they only have one match, and that is at home against an Evansville team that is sitting at 2-11 in conference after their home loss tonight to Missouri State.

Let's see where the Salukis end up.

Of course, their biggest win would be against UNI. Duh.