Sept. 11, 2008

The Redhawks volleyball team looks for win No. 1 on the year as they head east across the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge to Carbondale, Illinois to participate in the Hampton Inn Saluki Invitational hosted by Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. The Redhawks first match of the tournament is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 12 in Davies Gymnasium. On Saturday the Redhawks will face Western Illinois at 10:00 a.m. followed by a match-up with host SIU at 7:00 p.m.

The Redhawks (0-3) are coming off an unscheduled off week after Hurricane Gustav cancelled the Tiger Classic in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Redhawks lost all three matches in their season opening tournament at the Blue raider Bash in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Included among those losses is a match against 15th-ranked Middle Tennessee State.

Offensively the Redhawks are led by Karleigh DeLong who has recorded 34 kills for a 3.09 per game average. Molly Davis leads the defense with a dig average of 3.18 per game. Sarah Barth averages 6.73 assists per game.

SCOUTING THE FIELD

The Salukis (5-1) are off to their best start in six years having participated in two tournaments including winning the Niagara Tournament to start off the year. Their only loss of the season was against 18th-ranked Purdue in straight sets at the Ball State Tournament. The Salukis are led by sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Berwanger who leads the team with 59 kills for a 3.11 kills per game average and in digs with an average of 3.53 per game. Middle Blocker Chandra Roberson leads the team in blocks with 24 for an average of 1.26 per game and ranks second on the team with 43 kills. Brooklyn Robbins leads the team in assists with an average of 9.75 per game. The Redhawks trail in the all-time series against their non-conference rivals 10-14. Last season the Redhawks snapped a two-match losing streak to the Salukis with a 3-1 win in Cape Girardeau.

Western Illinois (3-5) heads into the weekend after dropping their home-opener against Northern Illinois 3-0 on Tuesday. Their start is their best since the 1999 season. The Leathernecks went 2-1 in the Eastern Illinois Tournament last weekend with wins over the host Panthers and Chicago State. Elise Crnjak was named "Libero of the Tournament". Crnjak leads the team with a 4.72 dig per game average. Monique Houston is the top offensive threat with 67 kills. Sarah Trimpe dishes out 8.06 assists per game. The Redhawks lead the series 3-1 winning their last match-up 3-0 back in 2001.

Arkansas State (6-1) is another regional non-conference rival the Redhawks will face at the tournament. The newly named Red Wolves jumped out to a 4-0 start on the season including winning the Texas Southern Season-Opening Tournament before dropping their only match of the season to Samford in the opening round of the UMKC Kangaroo Klassic this past weekend where they finished second. The Red Wolves are led offensively by Konae Purcell with an average of 4.69 kills per game. Erin Neely leads the defense with 5.67 digs per game and Laura Bennett leads the team with 11.67 assists per game. The Redhawks trail in the series 16-23 and have not played their rivals since the 2005 season when the teams spilt their two matches.