The University of Southern Indiana volleyball team returns to the Screaming Eagles Arena this weekend for its Great Lakes Valley Conference home-opener.
The Screaming Eagles (7-7, 1-1 GLVC) host Drury University (8-7, 2-0 GLVC) Friday night, followed by GLVC-newcomer Southwest Baptist University (2-12, 0-2 GLVC) Saturday afternoon. Those matches are scheduled for 7 p.m. and 3 p.m. starts, respectively.
Coverage of USI Volleyball can be found at GoUSIEagles.com. Both matches will be streamed on the GLVC Sports Network, at glvcsn.com/usi.
News and Notes
Attack of the Youth: Freshman outside hitter Leah Anderson (Bloomington, Illinois) leads the USI offense with 148 kills through 14 matches, including a 3.36 kills/set rate. Anderson posted her second-highest total of 2019 on Friday with 17 kills against William Jewell College.
A Force at the Net: Senior middle hitter Elexis Coleman (Joliet, Illinois) has amassed a team-high 44 blocks and .350 attack percentage while collecting 108 kills thus far.
The 100 Club: Three USI attackers have climbed over the 100-kill plateau so far in 2019: Anderson (148), senior outside hitter Lindsey Stose (Elkhart, Indiana) (109) and Coleman (108). Freshman right side hitter Katherine Koch (Belleville, Illinois) is in line to be the fourth to reach the century-mark, sitting at 97 kills entering the weekend.
Prepare to be Served: Four Eagles have reached double-digit service aces to this point: Anderson (14), senior libero/outside hitter Mikaila Humphrey (Floyd Knobs, Indiana) (12), freshman libero/defensive specialist Kelsie Vanitvelt (Grand Blanc, Michigan) (12) and Stose (11).
Scouting Report
USI v. Drury:Â The Eagles hold a 13-5 all-time lead over the Panthers, but have split their last six meetings since the end of the 2011 season.
About the Panthers:Â Drury enters the weekend having won six of its last seven matches, including a pair of GLVC bouts and a five-set thriller against nationally-ranked No. 18 Northwest Missouri State University.
USI v. SBU:Â The Eagles and Bearcats have crossed paths just once since 1989, with USI coming out on top of a four-set match during the 2015 season.
About the Bearcats:Â Southwest Baptist will carry a five-match losing skid to Lebanon, Illinois for a match with McKendree University before visiting the Eagles on Saturday. Both of Southwest Baptist’s victories in 2019 have come against East Central University (OK), who holds a 2-15 record themselves in 2019.
