—For the second straight match, the University of Southern Indiana volleyball team faces McKendree University in a win-or-go-home scenario, this time in the opening round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament Friday at 2:30 p.m. at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Illinois.
USI (21-10, 10-8 GLVC) had to get through the Bearcats this past Saturday just to qualify for the league’s post-season tournament. After dropping the first set, the Screaming Eagles responded with three straight wins to defeat the GLVC East Division champions and earn their 17thstraight post-season berth.
Meeting a team for the second consecutive match is nothing new for the Eagles, who faced the University of Indianapolis to end the 2005 regular season before meeting the Greyhounds in the first round of the GLVC Tournament. USI also faced Quincy University in back-to-back matches during the 2008 regular-season.
Still, the situation that the Eagles had to go through just to make it into a strong GLVC Tournament field was unique.
A night after being upset by the University of Illinois Springfield, the Eagles found themselves needing a win over a red-hot McKendree squad that had already swept USI earlier in the season. They also needed help, in the form of a University of Wisconsin-Parkside win over Indianapolis or a Rockhurst University win over Truman State University.
The Eagles took care of their end of the bargain with their four-set win over McKendree, snapping the Bearcats six-match winning streak in the process, but an Indianapolis sweep of UW-Parkside left USI’s post-season fate in the hands of then No. 7 Rockhurst, who were playing on the road in a primetime match against a team that also had its back against the wall.
Rockhurst prevailed, ousting Truman State with a three-set win to give the Eagles life. Despite both teams finishing with identical conference records, USI held the tie-breaker over Truman State thanks to its five-set win over the Bulldogs at the Physical Activities Center earlier in the year.
USI also finished in a tie with UW-Parkside, but the Rangers’ five-set win over the Eagles earlier in the year gave them the first wildcard spot and the No. 4 seed from the East Division. USI, which grabbed the second wildcard spot, assumed the No. 4 seed from the West Division since only three teams from the West Division qualified for the GLVC Tournament.
Henceforth, the Eagles get a rematch with McKendree, the No. 1 seed from the East Division, in the first round of the GLVC Tournament, while UW-Parkside faces Rockhurst, the No. 1 seed from the West.
USI will look to duplicate the success it had in a match this past Saturday that saw junior setter Quin Shoultz (Columbus, Indiana) come two kills away from a triple-double. Shoultz finished with eight kills, a .583 attacking percentage, 35 assists, and 10 digs.
Senior middle blocker Abbey Winter (Germantown, Illinois) was huge for the Eagles in the win as she had 13 kills, a .462 attacking percentage, and three blocks. Winter had 12 kills and a .555 attacking percentage in the final three sets as USI rallied for the win.
Senior right side hitter Erica Oberbroeckling (Westfield, Indiana), who had 13 kill on Saturday, leads USI with 3.07 kills per set and is second on the team with 2.80 digs per frame, while sophomore libero Shannon Farrell (Munster, Indiana) is averaging a team-best 4.88 digs per frame.
GLVC Sports Network coverage of the GLVC Tournament as well as live stats can be found at GoUSIEagles.com.
