The University of Southern Indiana volleyball team dropped a four-set match to conclude Great Lakes Valley Conference play Saturday at Truman State University, by scores of 25-14, 25-16, 20-25, and 25-16.
The Screaming Eagles (15-15, 7-8 GLVC) struggled to keep their attacks between the lines, committing 15 unforced attack errors combined with seven blocks for the Bulldogs (14-17, 7-8 GLVC). USI lost the attack percentage race .181-.088 to Truman.
Sophomore right side hitter Sidney Hegg tallied a career-high 14 kills in the matchup with a match-leading .407 hitting percentage.
Three Eagles collected double-digit digs: freshman libero Audrey Crowder (18), senior libero/outside hitter Mikaila Humphrey (15) and freshman outside hitter Leah Anderson (14).
The first and second sets were defined by Truman’s .313 combined hitting rate with 22 kills against just two attack errors. USI did not tally a block until the third set, and ended the match with just four.
The Eagles began to return to form in the third, posting a pair of blocks, a service ace and just one unforced attack error, while keeping Truman’s hitting away from the middle, influencing 11 errors by the Bulldogs. Hegg captured the first USI block of the match in the set along with five of her 14 kills. The Bulldogs went on to clinch the match with a 25-16 tally in the fourth.
With Saturday’s loss, the Eagles fall outside the top eight in the final GLVC standings, into a four-way tie for the ninth spot, drawing the 2019 campaign to a close. USI Volleyball graduates a five-member senior class that captured the program’s first .500-or-better season since 2015 and inaugurated the Screaming Eagles Arena with a 9-3 record at home in 2019, including the first victory over a top-ten nationally-ranked program (No. 8 Lewis University) since 2005.
