The University of Southern Indiana volleyball team is making its final preparations for the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference/Great Lakes Valley Conference Crossover. The Screaming Eagles will play this Friday, October 11, against the University of Charleston (2 p.m.) and this Saturday, October 12, against West Virginia Wesleyan College (9 a.m.) and Wheeling Jesuit University (2 p.m.).

All three matches will be played at Regents Hall, on the campus of Northern Kentucky University, in Highland Heights, Kentucky.

USI is coming off a heart-breaking loss to Lewis University and will be looking to get on the right track as all three matches are regional contests. The Eagles enter with an 11-6 mark and are 4-4 in the Great Lakes Region.

In order for the Eagles to be successful, they will need junior setter Kim Boehmer (Cincinnati, Ohio) to continue her stellar play. Boehmer, who is averaging 11.95 assists and 2.43 digs per game, is coming off one of her best matches of her career. She recorded 62 assists and a career-high 26 digs in USI's 3-2 loss to Lewis.

Two of Boehmer's main targets will be senior outside hitter Shannon Wells (Merrillville, Indiana) and sophomore middle blocker Leeanne Gross (Decatur, Indiana). Wells is second in the GLVC with 4.31 kills per game. She leads the GLVC with 1.09 service aces per game.

Gross has been USI's most consistent attacker, racking up a team-high .331 attacking percentage. In addition to ranking fourth in the GLVC in hitting percentage, Gross ranks second on the team and 10th in the conference with 3.43 kills per game.

Like Gross, sophomore middle hitter Natalie Atzinger (Louisville, Kentucky) has been one of Boehmer's most consistent of the 2002 season. Atzinger is second on the team and fifth in the GLVC with a .325 hitting percentage.

Defensively, Wells leads the Eagles and is third in the GLVC with 3.83 digs per game. Senior outside hitter Kristina Kavanaugh (Montgomery, Indiana) is second on the squad and fifth in the league with 3.41 digs per game. Kavanaugh needs just 43 digs to become the fifth player in school history to reach 1,000 career digs.

The Eagles will resume GLVC play Tuesday, October 15, as they head to Owensboro, Kentucky, to take on Kentucky Wesleyan College. USI will return home Saturday, October 19, to take on Quincy University. Tuesday's match is slated for a 7 p.m. start while Saturday's match is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. at the Physical Activities Center.