CARBONDALE, Ill. | The Grambling State University volleyball team dropped the opening set on against Southern Illinois, but responded with a thunderous boom by taking the following three sets to give head coach Paige Phillips her first collegiate victory with a 3-1 win to close out play on Saturday afternoon in the Saluki Bash at the Banterra Center. 

In their first-ever meeting between the two schools, Southern Illinois (0-2) took the opening set, 25-15. However, Grambling State (1-1) battled back and tied the match at 1 with a. 25-18 in the second set. The Lady Tigers held off the surging Salukis in the third set, 25-23, before closing the match with a. 25-18 win in the fourth set. 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

First Set 

• Grambling State raced out to a 10-7 advantage, with kills by Hillary English, Haley Gomez and Jayden James, along with a service ace by Zyonn Smith 
• Southern Illinois battled back, using a 13-3 run, to grab a 20-13 lead 
• The Salukis continued to pull away, taking the opening set, 25-15 

Second Set 

• The Lady Tigers began the set with a 4-2 lead after a kill by Destiny Thomas 
• With the score tied at 7, Grambling State got a kill by Adaizah Millett, and took advantage of four straight attacking errors by Southern Illinois to grab a 12-7 lead 
• Kills by James and Millett, along with errors by SIU, extended the Lady Tigers lead to 21-11 
• A kill by Gomez gave GSU a 24-17 advantage and the Lady Tigers picked up a 25-18 victory off an attacking error by Southern Illinois 

Third Set 

• With the score tied at 9, Grambling State put together a 6-0 run, capped by a kill by Smith, to grab a 15-9 advantage 
• Southern Illinois closed the gap to 16-14 after a GSU attacking error 
• Back-to-back kills by Thomas and an error by SIU extended the Lady Tigers lead to 19-14, forcing the Salukis to call a timeout 
• Southern Illinois continued to play from behind, cutting the GSU advantage to 20-19, before a service error and a James kill push the margin to 22-19 
• The Salukis closed the gap to 23-22 and 24-23, but a kill by Gomez sealed the set as the Lady Tigers took a 2-1 lead in the match, 25-23 

Fourth Set 

• The Lady Tigers opened the set with a 6-4 lead 
• Grambling State continued to extend the margin, grabbing a 10-5 advantage after a service ace by James 
• Kills by Maggie Plush, Smith and James, along with attacking errors by Southern Illinois, increased GSU's lead to 18-9 
• The Salukis slowly climbed back into the set, using a 6-1 run to close the margin to 19-15 
• An attacking error and kill by English gave GSU a 23-16 lead and the Lady Tigers closed out the match with a 25-18 win 
   

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• Grambling State finished with 43 kills in 102 total attacks, with just 14 attacking errors, while hitting .284 during the four sets 
• The Lady Tigers registered 42 assists, 39 digs, nine service aces and 8.0 total team blocks 
• The Lady Tigers hit .308 during the fourth set with 10 kills and just two errors 
• Jayden James led Grambling State offensively with a team-high 15 kills in 29 total attacks (hitting .414) 
• Ana Calderon dished out 23 assists and 10 digs for the double-double 
• Hillary English added 13 assists 
• Southern Illinois finished with 51 kills in 119 total attacks, with 25 attacking errors, and hit .218 
• The Salukis recorded 48 assists, 39 digs, seven service aces and 7.0 total team blocks 
• SIU registered 15 kills and just two errors, while hitting .500 in the opening set 
• Tatum Tornatta led SIU with 15 kills in 23 total attacks 
• Ceci Bulmahn added 10 kills  
• Anna Jaworski tallied a team-high 33 assists, while Peyton Plant chipped in 12 
• Claudia Bobb paced the defense with 11 digs 

UP NEXT 
Grambling State returns to action on Wednesday with a short trip to Ruston, La., to take on Louisiana Tech. First serve is set for 6 p.m. from the Thomas Assembly Center and the match will be streamed live on CUSA TV.  

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