EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Volleyball impressed the USI faithful after keeping up with IUPUI in the 25-17, 22-25, 25-16, 23-25, 14-16 exhibition loss Saturday afternoon at Screaming Eagles Arena. The Screaming Eagles led two sets to one until the Jaguars tallied back-to-back set wins in frames four and five.

USI put up promising numbers in the opening set after tallying 14 kills. Sophomore outside hitter Abby Weber (Fishers, Indiana) led the Eagles with four kills and three digs in the 25-17 first-set win for USI.

The Jaguars, however, tallied a 22-25 second set win to tie the match at one apiece. Down 21-18, freshman middle hitter Bianca Anderson (Chicago Heights, Illinois) rocketed back-to-back kills to kick off a 4-0 run to take a 22-21 lead. IUPUI would answer with four straight of its own to capture the set two win.

Consistent rallies from USI in set three led to an easy 25-16 victory. With kills from sophomore outside/right side hitter Abby Bednar (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) and key errors from the Jaguars, USI started an 8-1 run that would lead to an 18-10 gap that IUPUI could not recover from.

After a game-high nine ties and five lead changes, IUPUI stole set four away from USI, 23-25. The Jaguars used three late USI errors to gain momentum and go on an 8-2 run to send the match to the fifth set. The Eagles struggled in set four after putting up a negative hitting percentage and game-high 12 attacking errors.

IUPUI took a quick lead to kick off set five before USI took a 10-9 lead after kills by Weber and sophomore outside/right side hitter Evie Duncan (Evansville, Indiana) along with back-to-back service aces from junior outside hitter Leah Anderson (Bloomington, Illinois). After excellent back-and-forth action from both sides, the Jaguars took advantage of two late attack errors to give IUPUI the 14-16 set win and match victory.

Leading the offensive charge for USI was Weber who had 12 kills and L. Anderson who finished with four aces. Dishing out the assists for the Eagles was sophomore setter Carly Sobieralski (Indianapolis, Indiana) who finished with 24 assists. Freshman libero/defensive specialist Keira Moore (Newburgh, Indiana) tallied a team-high 15 digs. Handling the front lines was B. Anderson finished with four blocks.

As a team, USI had a 12-2 ace advantage over IUPUI and finished with four more kills and three more digs. The Jaguars did have a 12-8 block advantage over the Eagles and limited its attaching errors to just 21, compared to USI’s 35.

NEXT UP FOR THE EAGLES:
USI will kick off the regular season with a battle against Murray State University on August 26 and 27 at Screaming Eagles Arena to begin NCAA Division I play. This will be the first DI match for the Eagles since joining the Ohio Valley Conference in early 2022.