Eagles roll past Lions, Gamecocks in sweeping fashion

USI defeats UAPB & Jax State, 3-0

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Volleyball (4-5) put on a show at Screaming Eagles Arena Friday as the Screaming Eagles took down the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-7), 3-0 (25-18, 25-8, 25-11), before taking care of Jacksonville State University (1-7), 3-0 (27-25, 25-20, 25-22), to open the USI Invitational. USI is on a three-game winning streak and is 2-0 at home. All four tournament matches went 3-0.

USI vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff
An evenly-matched contest goes in favor of the Eagles to win the opening set, 25-18. USI kicked off the frame with three straight points with the help of a kill from senior outside/right side hitter Abby Bednar (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) and a service ace from senior outside hitter Leah Anderson (Bloomington, Illinois). The Golden Lions pushed back and took a 6-5 lead before the Eagles returned with a 5-1 stint to take a three-point advantage. Leah Anderson threw down a pair of kills while sophomore middle hitter Bianca Anderson (Chicago Heights, Illinois) knocked down a kill of her own. Sophomore libero/defensive specialist Keira Moore (Newburgh, Indiana) earned her first of four aces to cap off the Eagles’ run. With UAPB making a strong effort and cutting the deficit to just one, USI would score seven of the next nine points to take a 22-16 lead. The Eagles earned three aces during the surge with two coming from junior outside hitter Abby Weber (Fishers, Indiana). USI took advantage of three attacking errors from the Lions to seal the victory. Both squads knocked down 11 kills and 6 errors apiece.
 
USI used a strong offensive attack to roll past UAPB in the second game, 25-8. The Lions put up a fight early before a 4-0 run from the Eagles made it a 10-4 game. Bednar nabbed a kill, ace, and assist during the stint. Up 11-7, USI went on an immaculate 9-0 run to nearly triple-up UAPB, 20-7. The Eagles had seven kills during the stint with five different players earning a kill. USI capped off the frame with a strong 5-0 finish off back-to-back kills from Bednar and junior middle hitter Paris Downing (Avon, Indiana). It was a lopsided affair in the kills column with USI earning a match-high 16 kills in comparison to UAPB’s two kills. The Eagles minimized their errors, totaling just three, and had a staggering attacking percentage of 0.433. USI’s defense forced more Lions’ errors than kills, leading to a negative 0.074 attacking percentage.
 
Big runs from the Eagles seal the Lions’ fate and secure the 3-0 match sweep in a 25-11 final-set victory. UAPB kept it close to start until a 5-0 surge from USI pushed the Eagles past the Lions, 10-4. Leah Anderson nabbed two kills while Moore served up a pair of aces. Despite stopping that run, UAPB witnessed USI score three more to make it 13-5. After holding a 15-8 advantage, the Eagles went on another big run, this time 8-0. It started with repeating kills from Bianca Anderson and Bednar before Bednar tacked on two aces. The impressive USI stint was too much to come back from as UAPB dropped its seventh match of the season. The Eagles threw down 13 kills compared to the Lions’ eight kills. USI had their best attacking percentage of the match, posting a 0.458.
 
Both Bednar and Moore secured career-highs in aces with four apiece. Moore also had a match-high 12 digs in the win. Leah Anderson posted 11 kills with Bednar and Downing securing nine each. Downing also had a team-leading three blocks while junior setter Carly Sobieralski (Indianapolis, Indiana) recorded a match-high 34 assists. Weber also recorded double-digit digs, earning 10.
 
The Eagles outperformed the Lions in all categories, especially in aces as USI had 13 aces while UAPB had zero. The Eagles had 40 kills and 38 assists with four blocks and 39 digs. The Lions totaled 21 kills and 20 assists with 28 digs and four blocks. USI posted a season-high 0.326 attacking percentage and a season-low 11 errors off a season-low 89 total attacks. This was the Eagles’ second straight match of 40 or more kills and the fourth 40+ kill match of the season.
 
USI vs. Jacksonville State
Despite a late rally from the Gamecocks, the Eagles came up with a 27-25 win in the opening frame. USI came out of the gates on fire after a 7-3 start thanks to six offensive miscues by Jax State. The Gamecocks returned fire with a 6-2 stint which led to back-and-forth play and ending up with a 15-14 advantage for Jax State. USI bounced back with a 3-0 run off three errors from the Gamecocks. Both sides swapped points until a 5-0 surge from Jax State put them up, 22-19 late in the game. The Eagles were able to retaliate and tie the set at 22 apiece off three kills, two from senior outside/right side hitter Abby Bednar (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) and a single kill from sophomore middle hitter Bianca Anderson (Chicago Heights, Illinois). USI was able to close it out by scoring four of the final five points off a pair of kills from Bednar and junior setter Carly Sobieralski (Indianapolis, Indiana). Despite getting outhit in the set, the Eagles posted fewer errors and a higher attacking percentage.
 
USI cruised to a 25-20 second-set victory against Jax State to take a 2-0 match lead. The frame started off with two kills from Bednar and an ace from senior outside hitter Leah Anderson (Bloomington, Illinois). The Eagles continued to build their lead and reached a 12-7 advantage until a quick 3-0 stint from the Gamecocks forced their hand. However, USI recovered and scored five of the next six points to take a 17-11 lead. Both sides posted 3-0 runs until Jax State scored four of the final six points to cut the USI lead to just four. Bednar nabbed her fifth kill of the set to seal the victory. It was an even attacking game from both teams as USI finished the frame with 12 kills in comparison to Jax State’s 10 kills.
 
A couple of big runs from the Eagles sent the Gamecocks packing, 25-22. Tied at 11, USI stormed out and put up five straight points. Leah Anderson put up an ace while Bednar and junior outside hitter Abby Weber (Fishers, Indiana) contributed with three combined kills. USI was able to put up another run, this one a 3-0 surge off a pair of aces from sophomore libero/defensive specialist Keira Moore (Newburgh, Indiana) to take a 19-12 lead. Jax State put USI on their heels after posting seven of the next 10 points to cut the deficit to three. The Eagles went unphased and took care of the Gamecocks with the help of a kill from Sobieralski and Leah Anderson.
 
Bednar was electric for USI, contributing 13 kills and three blocks. Moore nabbed a team-high three aces with 10 digs while junior middle hitter Paris Downing (Avon, Indiana) totaled five blocks. Sobieralski took control of the passing game, earning 22 assists and making it nine straight matches of 20 or more kills this season. Weber was the lead defender off the attack and serve, securing 13 digs.
 
As a team, the Eagles had 36 kills, 31 assists, and six aces along with 46 digs and nine blocks. The Gamecocks totaled 36 kills, 33 assists, and six aces to pair with 43 digs and six blocks. Jax State finished the opening day of the tournament 0-2 after falling to Bradley University earlier in the day.
 
NEXT UP FOR THE EAGLES:
The Eagles close out the USI Invitational tomorrow afternoon when USI hosts Bradley at 3 p.m. The Braves also went 2-0 on Friday after defeating Jax State and UAPB, 3-0. This will be the first meeting between the two programs.