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VB @ SIU & Evansville

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  • VB @ SIU & Evansville

    This weekend the Panthers embark on their second-longest roadtrip of the conference season, traveling to Carbondale to take on the Southern Illinois Salukis on Friday night, and then onto Evansville, IN for a match against the Purple Aces on Saturday.
    -------------------------------

    Southern Illinois (6-7 MVC, 12-13 overall) is currently in 6th place in the conference standings (1.5 matches behind INS, 2 matches ahead of UE), and are looking to hold on to that last spot in the MVC tournament.

    The Salukis are a down a bit from last year (when they beat the Panthers in all three matches: home, away, and in the MVC tourney), but can still pose a challenge, especially at home. They operate a 6-2 offense (subbing in 2 different setters in order to maintain 3 front row attackers) and tend to run a very quick offensive scheme, which UNI has sometimes struggled to defend. In the matchup in Cedar Falls, the Panthers were able to use a strong serving game to often keep the Salukis "out of system", which slowed them down and made it easier to defend, and UNI swept the match fairly easily (-16 -18 -17).

    SIU plays their volleyball matches in Davies Gym, which is a small, older venue somewhat similar to the West Gym with the fans being close to the benches and the court and a good chance of the ceiling (or at least the lights/girders) affecting play. They're averaging 377 in home attendance this season, but with it being a smaller gym (listed capacity of 1250), a crowd of 500+ can still make an impact.

    Match time for Friday is the usual 7 p.m.
    live stats - UNI radio on AM 1330 and online for those with Panther InsideAccess subscriptions
    ---------------------------------------------------------

    Evansville (4-9 MVC, 8-17 overall) is currently in 7th place in the conference standings.

    The Panthers swept the Purple Aces in Cedar Falls (-19 -12 -11).
    This match will be played in the Carson Center, which features seating for a whopping 500 people, though they average about 250 for their MVC matches. The fairly low ceiling could come into play here as well.

    For some reason, this match is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start, an hour earlier than usual. (Evansville is in Indiana, but it is still in the Central time zone. So unlike Indiana State, which is in eastern time and always starts at 6, UE typically starts theirs at 7.). Which unfortunately puts it in the middle of the big UNI/NDSU football timeframe.
    Live Stats - UNI radio on 1330 and Panther InsideAccess

  • #2
    Re: VB @ SIU & Evansville

    I know the vb team often flies for the Wichita/Missouri State weekend (their longest trip of the MVC season, with a round trip of about 1240 miles) instead of taking bus, partly due to the fact that it is 250 miles between the two schools.

    But I don't know if they are flying or bussing for this SIU/Evansville trip (1065 round trip, but only about 105 miles between the schools)

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: VB @ SIU & Evansville

      UNI struggles early in Carbondale, dropping the first set 19-25
      they start the second set off strong, but let the Salukis back into it. Panthers managed to claw out a 27-25 second set victory to go into intermission with the match tied at one match a piece.

      Elsewhere in the Valley, Bradley loses in 4 at Indiana State.
      Missouri State is playing at Wichita, with the Bears taking the first set and the Shockers taking the second set to tie it up. Hopefully WSU can hold on at home, as it would give UNI more of a cushion in the standings.

      Illinois State is up 2 sets to 0 at home.
      And Drake is leading at Evansville, 2 sets to 0.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: VB @ SIU & Evansville

        Panthers lead for much of the set, but again let the Salukis tie it up late. UNI gets some key blocks at the end and wins the third set 26-24 to go up 2 sets to 1.

        Drake wins in 3 at Evansville.
        MSU won the 3rd at WSU to go up 2-1

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: VB @ SIU & Evansville

          I didn't know Scottie Pippen's daughter, Taylor is playing for S.Ill. She is a freshman.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: VB @ SIU & Evansville

            UNI gives up too many long Saluki runs. Panthers lose the 4th 19-25.
            going to the 5th set.

            Illinois State swept Loyola.
            WSU leading set 4 to try and take that match to 5 as well

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: VB @ SIU & Evansville

              UNI loses the 5th set something like 8-15.

              That puts them a full 3 matches behind Illinois State.
              But Wichita State did pull out a 5 set victory over Missouri State, which keeps the Bears passing the Panthers on the standings. UNI currently has a half-match lead over both MSU and WSU, which if the Panthers can win tommorrow night, will become a full-match lead (and UNI holds the tiebreak over either or both of those two teams).

              UNI is highly unlikely to overtake the Redbirds for the regular season conference championship, and needs to avoid getting upset any further if they want to hold on to the #2 seed and that important quarterfinal bye in the MVC conference tournament.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: VB @ SIU & Evansville

                While the football team played the second half of their game against the Bison, the Panther volleyball team was taking care of business in Evansville. They swept the Purple Aces 25-12 25-14 25-14 in a match that started at 6 pm and was done by 7:15.

                UNI outhit Evansville .367 to .020, outblocked them 10.5-3, and outdug them 48-32.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: VB @ SIU & Evansville

                  here's how the MVC stands after this weekend's action:

                  1. Illinois State (14-0) - remaining: @UNI, @Drake, WSU, MSU
                  The Redbirds will clinch at least a share of the regular season championship with their next win and will most likely earn the #1 seed. And they are the lone MVC team with any sort of hope of an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, though they are precariously on the bubble in that regard.

                  2. UNI (11-3) - remaining: INS, ILS, @Bradley, @Loyola
                  The Panthers are hoping to hold on to the #2 seed going into the MVC tournament, as it holds the second quarterfinal bye, which is important as it means not having to potentially play 3 matches in 2.5 days. UNI essentially has a 2-match cushion to hold on to that #2 spot, but they need to finish the season strong. Hopefully getting to play the conference tournament in their home gym can help them bring home that NCAA berth once again.

                  t3. Wichita State (10-4) & Missouri State (10-4). remaining: SIU/UE and @ISU/INS
                  The Shockers and the Bears are tied for 3rd, with both having lost to UNI twice and then each of them losing on the road to the other. If they continue to mirror each other, the tournament seeding will come down to the 4th tiebreak: set/"game" win% in conference matches, which WSU currently holds a slight edge in (69% [34-15] vs. 65% [35-19]).

                  5. Indiana State (9-5) - remaining: @UNI, @Drake, WSU, MSU
                  The Sycamores are one win away from clinching their first conference winning regular season since the MVC (née Gateway) was formed in 1983 (though they did have one .500 season in 2003). I believe this is their first overall winning season in that time too. In any case, the Trees have clinched an MVC tournament spot but could land anywhere from the #2 to #6 seed.

                  6. Southern Illinois (8-7) - remaining: @MSU, @WSU, @Evansville
                  The Salukis have also clinched a conference tourney spot, but have to finish the last two weekends on the road, including the always tough Missouri/Wichita swing.

                  Evansville (4-11), Loyola (3-12), Drake (2-12), and Bradley (1-14) are all mathematically eliminated from making the MVC tourney, though they could affect the seeding if they managed some upsets.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: VB @ SIU & Evansville

                    Thanks for the summary!

                    Comment

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