2008 Woodie Awards
Volleyball victorious, continues success at home
Cougars extend winning streak to eight consecutive games
Jacob Boone
Issue date: 10/30/07 Section: Sports
The SIUE Volleyball team extended its winning streak to eight games by defeating the University of Southern Indiana 3-0 Saturday at the Vadalabene Center.
The No. 16 ranked Cougars winning streak started Oct. 5 against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. With the win Saturday, SIUE improved to 14-2 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play and 22-5 overall.
"I think our team is playing with a pretty high level of confidence right now," SIUE Head Coach Todd Gober said.
The Cougars took the first game of the afternoon Saturday 30-24, in part to keeping USI off balance around the net, a key to success throughout the match.
"We were knocking them out of system a little bit," Gober said.
Freshman Sydney Winslow said the first victory of the day is always big in a match.
"Once we get up, it's like they can't come back and get us," Winslow said. "We try to carry that over to the next games too."
USI took an early lead in the second game and lead at 17-15 until SIUE took the lead at 18-17 and lead the remainder of the game, winning 30-26. The Cougars completed the sweep in the third game with a 30-19 win.
Gober said the team is going to try and improve on getting out of the gate faster in games.
"We've been getting down a lot early," Gober said. "We're going to try and fix that this week in practice."
Senior Sadie Zurliene said the team is trying to speed up the offense.
"Hopefully when the playoffs come, we'll be where we need to be," she said.
Zurliene said the win in the second game shook up USI and that close games are fun to be a part of.
"After we took the lead, I think their confidence just dropped," Zurliene said. "It makes the game more intense and gets us more excited to win it."
Winslow said the comeback victory in the second game was a boost to the Cougars' confidence and that the win against Truman State University was also a confidence booster.
"We know how we can play now when we come out to any game," Winslow said.
The 3-0 win was the ninth 3-0 win of the season for the Cougars.
Gober was happy to see his team put together a strong match.
"I felt like we were pretty consistent today," Gober said.
Junior Emily Rahn lead the Cougars in kills with 17. Junior Kelsey Hubert also reached double figures in kills with 10 on the day, while junior Samantha Schulte had nine kills and junior Kate Hofeldt had seven. Other Cougars with kills were Winslow with four, sophomore Candice Kummer with three and sophomore Lisa Heitkamp had one. Junior Mallory Clements also had four kills and 40 assists.
The Cougars travel to Quincy University Tuesday. SIUE defeated Quincy 3-0 earlier this season.
"Hopefully we can do it again Tuesday night," Winslow said.
The No. 16 ranked Cougars winning streak started Oct. 5 against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. With the win Saturday, SIUE improved to 14-2 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play and 22-5 overall.
"I think our team is playing with a pretty high level of confidence right now," SIUE Head Coach Todd Gober said.
The Cougars took the first game of the afternoon Saturday 30-24, in part to keeping USI off balance around the net, a key to success throughout the match.
"We were knocking them out of system a little bit," Gober said.
Freshman Sydney Winslow said the first victory of the day is always big in a match.
"Once we get up, it's like they can't come back and get us," Winslow said. "We try to carry that over to the next games too."
USI took an early lead in the second game and lead at 17-15 until SIUE took the lead at 18-17 and lead the remainder of the game, winning 30-26. The Cougars completed the sweep in the third game with a 30-19 win.
Gober said the team is going to try and improve on getting out of the gate faster in games.
"We've been getting down a lot early," Gober said. "We're going to try and fix that this week in practice."
Senior Sadie Zurliene said the team is trying to speed up the offense.
"Hopefully when the playoffs come, we'll be where we need to be," she said.
Zurliene said the win in the second game shook up USI and that close games are fun to be a part of.
"After we took the lead, I think their confidence just dropped," Zurliene said. "It makes the game more intense and gets us more excited to win it."
Winslow said the comeback victory in the second game was a boost to the Cougars' confidence and that the win against Truman State University was also a confidence booster.
"We know how we can play now when we come out to any game," Winslow said.
The 3-0 win was the ninth 3-0 win of the season for the Cougars.
Gober was happy to see his team put together a strong match.
"I felt like we were pretty consistent today," Gober said.
Junior Emily Rahn lead the Cougars in kills with 17. Junior Kelsey Hubert also reached double figures in kills with 10 on the day, while junior Samantha Schulte had nine kills and junior Kate Hofeldt had seven. Other Cougars with kills were Winslow with four, sophomore Candice Kummer with three and sophomore Lisa Heitkamp had one. Junior Mallory Clements also had four kills and 40 assists.
The Cougars travel to Quincy University Tuesday. SIUE defeated Quincy 3-0 earlier this season.
"Hopefully we can do it again Tuesday night," Winslow said.
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