EAST PEORIA, Ill.—Junior middle hitter Taylor Litteken (Foristell, Missouri) racked up 16 kills, a .324 attacking percentage and five blocks as No. 6-seeded University of Southern Indiana Volleyball defeated the No. 3-seeded Rockhurst University Hawks 24-26, 25-22, 25-22, 20-25, 15-11 in the quarterfinals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship Tournament Friday night at the EastSide Centre.
Litteken had four kills and a .571 attacking percentage in the Screaming Eagles’ four-point, fifth-set win that kept their NCAA II Tournament hopes and quest for a second straight league title alive.
Freshman outside hitter Taya Dazey (Fort Wayne, Indiana) added 14 kills and 23 digs, while senior middle blocker Sidney Hegg (Menasha, Wisconsin) had 11 kills and a match-high tying seven blocks.
USI (18-12) won the last six points of the second set to earn a three-point win and tie the match at a set apiece. Hegg had five kills in seven swings in the third frame as the Eagles rallied from an early 9-4 deficit to earn another three-point win.
The fourth set featured some big momentum changes as USI was unable to hold onto an early four-point advantage. Rockhurst (20-11) scored nine straight points to build a 14-9 lead; then; after USI stormed back to tie the frame at 20-20, the Hawks scored five straight points to win the set and even the match at two sets each.
USI used runs of 3-0 and 4-0 to set itself up with a plethora match-point opportunities and, on their third try, Litteken slammed down a kill to give USI the four-point, match-clinching win.
Freshman setter Carly Sobieralski (Indianapolis, Indiana), who was in the starting lineup due to an injury to All-GLVC setter Casey Cepicky (St. Louis, Indiana), finished the match with 43 assists and 19 digs, while senior libero Callie Gubera (Thorntown, Indiana) had 22 digs.
Sophomore outside hitter Leah Anderson (Bloomington, Illinois added 13 digs and four blocks, while freshman outside hitter Evie Duncan came off the bench to record six kills and four blocks.
USI, which played in its 12th five-set match of the year, counting its exhibition with the University of Evansville, advances to Saturday’s semifinal round to play the University of Missouri-St. Louis at 5:30 p.m. The Eagles went 2-0 during the regular-season against the second-seeded Tritons (23-7), who advanced to the semifinals after defeating the University of Illinois Springfield in three sets Friday evening.
