University of Southern Illinois Volleyball dropped its last two GLVC divisional crossover matches of the regular season on Saturday afternoon. The Screaming Eagles were swept by hosting Quincy in the morning match and also lost in three sets to Drury in the afternoon match.
The 13-ranked Eagles only lost two matches prior to the Quincy-hosted triangular, but struggled to grasp a lead in the sets against both the Hawks and Panthers. On the day, USI was unable to attack effectively during each contest, hitting at a clip of .150 in the matchup versus Quincy and only .036 against Drury. Leading the Eagles’ offensive effort was freshman Abby Weber, who posted 25 kills with 28.0 points over six sets. Weber flew around on defensive throughout the matchups as well, laying out for 19 digs (second most for USI). Callie Gubera led the USI defensive effort along with Sidney Hegg. Gubera went for 20 digs over the six sets while Hegg thwarted eight opposing attacks with four being solo blocks. In addition to her eight blocks, the junior middle blocker Hegg added 7.5 points with two kills, four digs, and one assist. The offensive efforts of Weber were followed by Leah Anderson with 20 total kills while fellow sophomore Katherine Koch had 15 kills.
In the six-set, two-match weekend, senior Casey Cepicky moved up in the USI record books again with her 59-assist weekend. Cepicky’s 59 assists took her well above the necessary 12 to push her into fourth all-time in career assists over Carly Messman (2,669). The senior setter now has 2,716 assists in her time as a Screaming Eagle.
NOTES:
Senior setter Casey Cepicky dished out 59 assists on the day to elevate herself to fourth all-time for career assists in the USI record book. Cepicky has 2,716 assists in her career.
Freshman outside hitter Abby Weber set career-highs in both kills and points against the Quincy Hawks with 14 kills and 16.0 points. Her previous highs came against William Jewell in both categories with 12 kills and 14.5 points against the Cardinals on (2/27/2021).
This was the first back-to-back loss for USI on the season as the Eagles only lost two matches prior to March 20. The 13th-ranked Screaming Eagles now own a record of 10-4 on the season as the return to GLVC East Division play.
UP NEXT:
USI Volleyball will be back on the court for its final home match of the season next Friday, March 27 against divisional rival McKendree. The Eagles will close out the remainder of the regular season in the GLVC East Division, playing away against Indianapolis, Illinois Springfield, finishing against top-ranked Lewis after the contest against the Bearcats.
