EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Southern Indiana volleyball team faces the No. 9 University of North Alabama Lions Friday at 11 a.m. (CDT) to open the Ashland University Invitational in Ashland, Ohio. The Screaming Eagles also play Great Lakes Region foe Wheeling Jesuit University at 5 p.m., before playing Palm Beach Atlantic University and Ashland Saturday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.

USI (3-1) opened the season with convincing wins over Edinboro University, the University of West Florida, and the University of South Dakota. The Eagles lone setback was a five-game loss to Northwood University.

The Eagles' strength during their opening weekend was the ability to block well. The play at the net helped USI hold the opposition to a .066 attacking percentage, the lowest of any team in the GLVC during the opening weekend.

Freshman middle blocker Ashley Henricks (Greenwood, Indiana) and junior middle blocker Molly Rahman (Ferdinand, Indiana) averaged 1.31 and 1.00 blocks per game, respectively, last weekend.

Defensively, the Eagles benefited from the play of junior defensive specialist Cara Keever (Ft. Wayne, Indiana), senior outside hitter Emily Ryan (Batesville, Indiana), and senior right side hitter/libero Amanda Probst (Wheeler, Illinois). Keever averaged a team-high 4.06 digs per game, while Ryan and Probst averaged 3.42 and 3.38 digs per game.

Offensively, Ryan led the Eagles with 3.17 kills per game, while senior outside hitter Chelse Doubler (Griffin, Indiana) was second with 3.00 kills per game. Henricks and Rahman led USI with attacking clips of .344 and .337, respectively.

USI opens the home and GLVC schedule September 8 when it hosts Rockhurst University at 7 p.m.