ROMEOVILLE, Ill.—For the third time in as many seasons, the University of Southern Indiana volleyball team has advanced to the finals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament. The Screaming Eagles defeat the University of Indianapolis, in five games, Friday night to get with in one win of an automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Tournament.
After dominating the first game, the Eagles found themselves down 2-1 in the match and facing elimination from any chance of a GLVC title and a berth in the NCAA II Tournament. However, USI battled back to win games four and five and take the match. It marks the first time this season the Eagles have won a match that has gone to a decisive fifth game.
With their backs against the wall and a hobbling
Kim Boehmer (Cincinnati, Ohio)—Boehmer went down in the third game with an ankle injury—the Eagles responded in game four with 19 kills and a match-high .485 hitting percentage. USI won the game 30-21 to even the match at 2-2.
USI recorded 19 kills and hit .302 to win game one, 30-21. However, Indianapolis fired back in games two and three with a combined 34 kills and a .408 hitting percentage to put the Eagles in a 2-1 deficit. The Greyhounds won the second game, 30-28, before taking the third game, 30-23.
After the Eagles tied the contest at two games each, they relied on a strong defensive effort in the fifth and final game. USI, which hit .273 in the fifth set, held Indianapolis to a negative .045 hitting percentage and just four kills. When it was all said and done, the Eagles came out of the fifth game with a 15-7 win and a 3-2 win in the match.
Senior outside hitter and the GLVC "Player of the Year",
Shannon Wells (Merrillville, Indiana), recorded a match-high 30 kills and 17 digs to go along with a .407 attacking percentage. The Eagles got 18 kills and 13 digs out of sophomore middle blocker
Leeanne Gross (Decatur, Indiana) while senior outside hitter
Kristina Kavanaugh (Montgomery, Indiana) chimed in with 16 kills and 16 digs.
Despite going down with the ankle injury, Boehmer went on to finish the match, recording 67 assists, 5 kills, and 9 digs. Boehmer recorded a team-leading .444 attacking percentage in the process.
The Eagles will face the winner of the Northern Kentucky University/Lewis University match. The two teams squared off against each other in the late match at the Neil Carey Arena on the campus of Lewis University. If NKU advances, it will be the third straight season the two teams will have faced each other for the GLVC championship.
USI defeated the Norse of NKU, in three games, but lost to the Flyers of Lewis, five games, earlier in the season. The championship match is slated for a 2 p.m. start tomorrow in Romeoville.
