CARBONDALE, Ill. – Alabama A&M (1-12, 0-0 SWAC) could not withstand the offensive attack of Southern Illinois (5-4, 0-0 OVC), dropping a 3-0 decision (25-12, 25-19, 25-14), and fell by that same score (25-15, 25-14, 25-14) to Bellarmine (5-6, 0-0 ASUN), in NCAA Division I women's volleyball action as part of the Saluki Bash on Friday, September 16.
 
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 3, ALABAMA A&M 0
The teams would battle through four lead changes and a whopping nine ties over the first 21 points as SIU notched a narrow 11-10 advantage. From there, however, it would be all Salukis as they exploded for a massive 14-2 set ending run that gave them a 25-12 victory and 1-0 match lead.
 
Game 2 would see the clubs stay competitive the entire way as they deadlocked at 3-3 early before Southern Illinois delivered an 11-5 stretch to take a 14-8 lead midway through. The Bulldogs would weather that run and bounce right back as they took 11 of the next 19 points to claw to within 22-19. That would be as close as they would get, however, as a pair of attack errors and a service ace fueled a 3-0 burst that locked up the 25-19 victory.
 
Trailing 5-4 early in the third set, A&M would surrender a 13-6 stretch that put the Salukis up 18-10. From there homestanding SIU would close out the 25-14 set victory and secure the 3-0 sweep in their tournament opener.
 
Freshman Jarvis McKenzie (Detroit, Mich.) and sophomore setter Keyara Brooks (Arlington, Texas) each dished out six assists with the former having eight digs to lead A&M. Freshman outside hitter Caitlin Shaw (Desoto, Texas) and freshman middle blocker Madison Reagins (Duncanville, Texas) each added five kills.
 
Anna Jaworski delivered an impressive 41 assists to fuel the Salukis, with Kelly Franklin and Tatum Tornatta benefiting with nine and eight kills, respectively. Nsia Gittens and Brinley Burdette each added six kills and Claudia Bobb and Bailey Neuberger had eight and seven digs, respectively.
 
BELLARMINE 3, ALABAMA A&M 0
Facing a team transitioning to the NCAA Division I ranks, the Bulldogs quickly found out that the Knights are ready to play at this level as they jumped out to a 13-6 advantage in the opening set. They would then slowly grow that lead to 23-13 before back-to-back points by A&M cut it to eight. It would be a brief respite, however as BU answered with consecutive scores of their own to close out the 10-point victory and take a 1-0 lead.
 
They showed they weren't messing around in Game 2 as well, surging out to a 14-8 lead midway through. Alabama A&M would respond with three of the next four points to slice it to four but a debilitating 10-3 run closed the frame at 25-14 and made it a two-set advantage.
 
For the third straight set Bellarmine got off to the fast start, this time 9-3 before alternating the next eight points to land at 12-7. The Knights would decide that they were done with the back-and-forth as they ripped off six straight to expand their lead to 11. After taking that shot to the chin, the Bulldogs would come back with a 7-4 run to get to within 22-14 but would go no further. Back-to-back kills by Kylie VanHoy and an attack error then sealed another 25-14 decision and clinched the 3-0 sweep.
 
Keyara Scott Johnson led A&M with six kills and seven digs and freshman outside hitter Bailey Duckett (Huntsville, Ala.) finished with seven kills and four digs. Jarvis dished out a team-high 15 assists with Brooks adding seven.
 
Gabby Brissett and Jayme Scott drilled nine kills, the latter with six digs, and VanHoy and Bailey Venard each had eight kills to pace Bellarmine. Sending the ball their way was Emily Arnold who finished with a match-high 34 assists while Anna Lococo notched eight digs.
 
The Bulldogs wrap up play at the Saluki Bash tomorrow, Saturday, September 17 as they take on Southeast Missouri. First serve is set for 11 a.m.