The University of Southern Indiana volleyball team fell on the road in Great Lakes Valley Conference play at the University of Indianapolis in five sets Friday night, 25-20, 16-25, 26-28, 25-21, 15-11. Freshman outside hitter Leah Anderson posted her fifth double-double of the season with a 17-kill, 11-dig effort while freshman right side hitter Katherine Koch added a season-high 14 kills on a .375 hitting cip to lead the Screaming Eagles against the Greyhounds.
Both squads turned the contest into a defensive match, combining for 18 blocks (10 by USI) while holding each other under the .200 mark for team hitting percentage. Anderson led the match with six blocks, followed by senior middle blocker Amanda Jung with five.
The Screaming Eagles (11-12, 3-5 GLVC) paced the match in numerous categories, finding advantages in kills (59-54), blocks (10-8), hitting percentage (.195-.171) and service aces (11-7) over the host Indianapolis.
The Eagles fell behind early in the opening set, trailing by as many as seven points at 21-14. USI had more attack errors (6) than kills (2) to open the frame before rattling off 10 kills to just two errors to close the gap to just three points before eventually dropping the set. Anderson, senior middle hitter Elexis Coleman and sophomore middle blocker Sidney Hegg each snatched three kills in the opener.
USI pounced on the Greyhounds right away in the second as the Eagles found themselves an 11-3 lead. Anderson led the momentum with three kills in the first 11 points. The Eagles pinned down UIndy’s attack, forcing the host team into a negative .200 hitting mark at the net. Koch closed down UIndy with three kills late, pushing her total to six through two.
Anderson and Koch each eclipsed double digits in kills in the third frame as the Eagles dropped 16 kills on the Greyhounds, while holding UIndy to a .091 hitting clip. USI needed every bit of its 14-7 set-opening run to hold on as UIndy came back to force extra points before Anderson notched a pair of her six kills to close it out.
The heated battle to close the third frame continued through the final two sets, as neither team amassed a lead larger than four points. The in-state foes racked up 16 tied scores and seven lead changes over that span.
