Nov. 14, 2009

By Shalae Patrick
www.SIUSalukis.com

Box Score

DES MOINES, Iowa - The Southern Illinois volleyball team took Drake to five sets on the Bulldogs home court, but couldn't pull out the victory, 24-26,25-22,25-17,19-25,8-15, Saturday night in Missouri Valley Conference play in the Knapp Center.

Drake (21-10, 9-7 MVC) pulled out the first-set victory, 26-24, before Southern (18-10, 7-9 MVC) picked up wins in the next two for the 2-1 set advantage.

The Bulldogs combined for just seven attack errors in the final two sets for their ninth league victory, now sitting tied for fourth with Creighton, heading into the final weekend of regular-season play.

Drake put three players in double-figure kills, led by Alisa DeBerg Roth with 12. Emily Heffernen and Angela Bys added 11 each.

The Salukis were led by outside hitter Jennifer Berwanger with a match-high 17 kills and 24 digs, adding two block assists. Middle blocker Chandra Roberson added 13 kills and five block assists, while setter Rachael Brown paced the Saluki offense with a match-high 45 assists and 11 digs.

Jasmine Conner came off the bench for eight kills, hitting a team-high .571 with zero errors.

Libero Lauren Blumhorst led the Saluki defense with a match-high 29 digs.

The Salukis return to action Friday, Nov. 20, when they travel to Evansville for the final match of the regular season.