CARBONDALE, Ill. – Indiana State faced off with Missouri Valley Conference opponent Southern Illinois in their final regular season meet. The Sycamores fell to the Salukis 189 to 111.

The Sycamores entered the meet coming off a dominating win over Ball State on Jan. 20.

While Indiana State battled through the entire meet the Sycamores could not edge the 2016-2017 conference runner-ups.

"The team came out really hot today and swam strong all the way through. The 200 medley relay and the 1000 freestyle were really strong events for us to start and then we kept ratting on through. This was a great time for us as we get ready to head into conference," said head coach Matt Leach.

The Sycamores started off the day with a second place finish in the 200 yard medley relay as the team of Kendall Hansen, Megan Schade, Jacquie Price and Alex Malmborg notched a time of 1:48.06.

Hansen provided especially strong performances later in the meet as she placed first in the 100 and 200 backstroke events. Hansen has come out on top in these events in nearly every meet this season.

Vivian Kritikou followed up with a second place finish in the 1000 freestyle and an impressive 10:30.34.

Blanca Saez-Illobre came up strong for the Sycamores in the 200 freestyle as she placed second with a time of 1:54.60. Saez-Illobre would add two more standout performances later in the meet as she finished in first place in her next two events.

She first recorded a 2:21.06 in the 200 breaststroke followed by a 4:27.85 in the 400 IM.

Malmborg continued the momentum with a first place finish in the 50 freestyle and time of 24.12.

Cierra Campbell added the next big result as she finished second in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:08.69.

Laura Fulton and Mckenzie Plummer also added solid performances for the Sycamores in the one and three meter springboard. Fulton finished with a 196.58 in the one meter and a 160.20 in the three meter, while Plummer recorded 163.13 and a 116.77.

"We threw in some new dives today and they both did a great job. I am looking forward to the next couple weeks of training and then seeing how they compete at conference," said diving coach Fengting Chen.

The Sycamores finished the day strong with a first place finish in the 400 freestyle relay.

"The biggest thing today was seeing how we have progressed and grown from last year. We are really excited for conference and are happy with the strong performances today. Southern Illinois is a really well coached team, but all in all we did a great job today," said Leach.

ISU will enter a few weeks of training and be back in action Feb. 14 through Feb. 17 as they travel to Iowa City, Iowa for their second MVC Championship meet.

For the latest information on the Sycamore Swimming and Diving team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.