EVANSVILLE, Ind.– University of Southern Indiana completed the series sweep against the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in a five-set thriller Saturday afternoon. The Screaming Eagles move to 5-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play and 9-11 overall.
After the two wins against Little Rock, USI remains undefeated in OVC games in Liberty Arena.
Set 1: LR 25, USI 20
The Trojans came on strong after losing the first match on Friday night, gaining a five-point lead by the 12th point. USI fought back, putting up three team blocks and 13 digs. Freshman Aysa Thomas led the team with five assists, five digs, and two kills.
Set 2: USI 25, LR 22
The Screaming Eagles came ready to fight in the second set, maintaining a grip on the lead for the whole set. Senior Bianca Anderson made the difference for the Eagles in the set, recording six kills and four digs. Thomas dished out another 13 assists, more than doubling the Eagle kill count. Freshman Ava Carpenter made an appearance late in the set, in just her third match for the Eagles, and she recorded three kills to help swing USI’s momentum.
Set 3: USI 25, LR 21
USI had to fight back from a five-point deficit in the middle of the set, gaining the lead back after a six-point serving run from senior Keira Moore. Thomas recorded another 13 assists, helping Anderson to tally five more kills, three in a row to close out the set. Anderson tallied another five kills, leading the court.
Set 4: LR 25, USI 23
The Eagles gave up the lead midway through the set, after the Trojans put up four team blocks, forcing the Eagle offense to struggle. Thomas had her best set yet, with 15 assists, helping junior Ashby Willis to five kills and Anderson to another six. Libero Audrey Small tallied her best set with eight digs.
Set 5: USI 15, LR 10
The fifth set tiebreaker was a back-and-forth battle from the start, with five lead changes and eight tie scores. The Eagles’ defense put up another three blocks at the net to help hold the Trojan offense to its least efficient set, with a .050 hitting percentage. Willis led the USI offense with three kills. Freshmen Carpenter and Carley Wright added two kills each.
As a team, the Screaming Eagles added 13 total blocks and 81 digs to average 2.6 blocks per set and 16.2 digs per set. With 62 kills on a .207 hitting percentage, USI topped game one’s efficiency. Anderson finished with a season-high 17 kills on just three errors, leading both sides with a .424 hitting percentage.
Three freshmen Eagles made the difference for USI in the win. OVC Freshman of the Week, Thomas, tallied 53 assists, tying her career-high, with 19 digs and three kills. Carpenter was ready when her number was called, hitting a career-high of 10 kills. Wright recorded 12 kills, six digs, and three blocks.
Next up, the Screaming Eagles are in Liberty Arena for Senior Weekend, hosting a series against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on October 24th at 6 p.m. and October 25th at 2 p.m.
