EVANSVILLE, Ind.- University of Southern Indiana Volleyball (7-9, 2-2 OVC) flips the script from Tuesday, winning a riveting five-set match against Eastern Illinois University (4-9, 0-3 OVC) on Thursday night (25-22,19-25, 23-25, 25-16,15-12). The win marks the Screaming Eagles first victory over the Panthers in program history.
Set 1: USI 25, EIU 21
Graduate senior Jasmine Green helped the Eagles gain an early 6-3 lead with two powerful kills. The Panthers erupted on a nine-point run forcing the Eagles to call a timeout to regroup falling behind 15-11. Following the timeout, USI mounted their own 11-6 run as sophomore Ashby Willis tallied her fifth kill along with a huge block assist with senior Paris Downing forcing the Panthers to call a timeout with a one-point lead. Sophomore Leah Coleman smashed a kill past the Panther defense to clinch set one. The Eagles finished set one on a 14-7 run. Freshman Kerigan Fehr had an exceptional first set with five digs limiting the Panthers to a .048 hitting percentage.
Set 2: USI 19, EIU 25
Junior Keira Moore placed her team leading 16th service ace of the season perfectly between the Panther defense for a 4-2 lead. Coleman elevated for four kills to keep the Eagles within one at 12-13. However, EIU surged on a late 12-7 run evening the match at one. Eight USI attacking errors stuck out on the stat sheet along with an efficient .250 hitting percentage from the Panthers.
Set 3: USI 23, EIU 25
EIU jumped out to an early 6-2 lead, but Fehr continued her special night with a service ace to draw within one point. Both teams traded points as senior Abby Weber evened the match at ten with a kill from the back row. EIU used a 12-6 run to gain a 22-16 lead late. Senior Carly Sobieralski caught the defense off guard with a kill and Willis finished two consecutive kills from the left side to inch within two points of the Panthers at 22-24. After four straight Eagles points, EIU finished the set with a kill. Willis continued to be the relied upon offensively as an outside target with 13 kills as senior Bianca Anderson contributed nine kills on a .474 attacking percentage up the middle.
Set 4: USI 25, EIU 16
USI led early as Green used a unique second contact kick save and kill on the same rally. Sobieralski dished out her 43nd assist to Willis making it 11-7 Eagles. Coleman added two consecutive kills from Sobieralski to gain the six-point lead. The USI defense dominated set four as EIU struggled with a .026 hitting percentage. Four different Eagles finished set four with double digit digs and the Eagles also out blocked the Panthers.
Set 5: USI 15, EIU 13
The Eagles were tested early in set five falling behind 4-1. However, Fehr tallied her career high third service ace in the clutch to even the match at four. The Eagles leaned on Willis for two huge kills to give the Eagles a 12-9 lead. Another sophomore standout, Coleman closed the door with two emphatic kills to clinch the match.
After the demoralizing five-set loss to University of Tennessee at Martin on Tuesday, USI desperately needed this victory to stay near the top of the Ohio Valley Conference standings. The Eagles are now 2-2 in five set matches.
Willis had a monster night leading the Eagles offensively tying a career high of 19 kills. Sobieralski earned her third 50+ assist game in the last six matches with 54. Sobieralski is averaging an insane 48 assists per game in the past seven matches. Moore (22), Sobieralski (16), Weber (14), Willis (12) and Fehr (10) all totaled double digit digs. Downing swatted a team leading six blocks, while Fehr finished with three service aces.
As a team, USI finished with 62 kills, 61 assists, 82 digs, eight aces, ten blocks, and a .200 attacking percentage. The Panthers earned 55 kills, 51 assists, 73 digs, nine aces, six blocks, and a .140 hitting percentage.
Next up for the Eagles
USI is back in Charleston tomorrow looking to sweep the Panthers at 4 p.m.
