USI concludes 2024 campaign with a home loss against Morehead State
EVANSVILLE, Ind.- University of Southern Indiana Volleyball (8-22, OVC 3-15) concluded their 2024 season with a three-set loss against Morehead State University (16-13, OVC 12-6) on Wednesday afternoon at Liberty Arena (17-25, 19-25, 22-25). The Screaming Eagles finished with eight wins, five of which came in non-conference play.
Set 1: MORE 25, USI 17
Junior Bianca Anderson, sophomore Ashby Willis, and sophomore Leah Coleman each crushed two early kills. Morehead State took a convincing nine-point lead before USI bounced back with a five-point run on three kills from senior Paris Downing. However, USI couldn’t string together another late run to dig out of the early hole. Downing swatted five set one kills.
Set 2: MORE 25, USI 19
Six straight Morehead points put USI in an early ten-point deficit. Redshirt freshman Jillian Moonan delivered a cross court kill and senior Abby Weber placed an ace to cut the deficit to 16-13. Sophomore Ellie Marbet entered the match, bringing the Eagles within one on back-to-back kills. Morehead gained the two-set advantage after scoring six of the final seven points.
Set 3: MORE 22, USI 25
Anderson found herself on the service line propelling the Eagles to a four-point run with her first ace of the season. Coleman tied the set at 18 with her seventh kill of the night. Senior Lauren O’Neill finished her USI career with an emphatic kill before Morehead State clinched the match. Jillian Moonan and Marbet combined for 11 kills in the final two sets as both recorded career highs. Jillian Moonan tallied 5, while Marbet finished with 6.
Coleman and Downing led offensively each swatting seven kills. Senior Carly Sobieralski finished with 26 assists, accumulating 2,876 assists for her career at fifth in the program’s history. Junior Keira Moore broke her single season best in total digs tonight with 516 on the season and 19 on the night. The 516 single season digs ranks fifth all-time in digs in a season. Downing led the Eagles in blocks as she finished her career tenth all-time with 310. Weber led in service aces, along with serving as the team’s swish army knife for five years being able to thrive in multiple roles finishing with 598 kills, 75 assists, 113 aces, and 1,210 digs for her career.
As a team, USI finished with 35 kills, 35 assists, 57 digs, five aces, two blocks, and a .118 attacking percentage. MSU earned 43 kills, 41 assists, 52 digs, six aces, eight blocks, and a .280 hitting percentage.
USI Volleyball will dearly miss the five seniors who have helped this program grow significantly in Jasmine Green, Downing, O’Neill, Sobieralski, and Weber.
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