 The University of Southern Indiana volleyball team battled the University of Missouri-St. Louis to a four-set defeat (25-21, 25-13, 23-25, 28-26) Thursday night in Great Lakes Valley Conference play at the Screaming Eagles Arena.
The Screaming Eagles (8-10, 2-4 GLVC) and Tritons (16-2, 4-2 GLVC) brought their fight to the defensive end, as the two squads recorded attack percentages of .153 and .112, respectively, along with 84 and 87 digs, respectively.
Freshman libero Audrey Crowder (Avon, Indiana) led the back-row effort for the Eagles with a career-high 27 digs and an error-free performance on the reception.
Senior middle hitter Elexis Coleman (Joliet, Illinois) complimented Crowder’s performance with a career-high-tying seven blocks along with six kills.
Three double-doubles were recorded in Thursday’s GLVC contest: senior outside hitter Lindsey Stose (Elkhart, Indiana) with 12 kills and 15 digs, junior setter Casey Cepicky (St. Louis, Missouri) with 33 assists and 10 digs, and freshman outside hitter Leah Anderson (Bloomington, Illinois) with a USI-leading 14 kills and 11 digs.
After a contested first set, where USI out-hit the Tritons .212-.164 and limited itself to just three attack errors, the Eagles were met by an efficent second set by UMSL. The Tritons manufactured a .312 hitting clip while forcing nine attack errors by the Eagles.
The Eagles stayed resiliant following the 25-13 second-set loss, jumping out to early leads in both the third and fourth sets, including an 11-3 lead in the final frame.
Coleman and freshman right side hitter Katherine Koch (Belleville, Illinois) teamed up to stuff the Tritons on numerous occasions over the final two frames. The pair also combined for eight kills in the back-half of the match. Koch finished with nine kills and six blocks, five kills coming in the fourth.
The Eagles fell to UMSL in the fourth set, 28-26, despite the valiant comeback effort. USI was done in by a 12-3 Triton run that began just one point from set-point at 23-16.
USI Volleyball returns to the Screaming Eagles Arena Saturday at 3 p.m. to host GLVC-newcomer Lindenwood University in more league action.
