When the University of Southern Indiana volleyball team opens the 2007 season at the University of West Florida Comfort Inn-vitational August 24-25, the Screaming Eagles will be looking to get back to the top of the GLVC after a 2006 campaign that saw them post a 17-11 overall mark and a 9-7 record in the GLVC.

Third-year Head Coach Leah Mercer '02 returns nine players, four starters, from the 2006 squad that finished sixth in the GLVC regular-season standings.

Mercer has two seniors—setter Stephanie Wilson and middle blocker Molly Rahman—to lean on for leadership in 2007.

Wilson is a three-time All-GLVC performer after earning honorable mention All-Conference honors in 2006. She is second all-time at USI with 3,802 career assists after averaging 11.13 assists per game (apg) as a junior last season.

Rahman is one of Wilson's top targets in the middle and is coming off a 2006 season in which she ranked seventh in the GLVC with a team-high .307 attacking percentage. Rahman was an ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District V performer in 2006, averaging 2.53 kills per game (kpg) and 1.07 blocks per game (bpg).

Junior defensive specialist/libero Amber Gogel also is expected to make solid contributions after averaging 1.61 dpg as a sophomore in 2006 and 2.99 dpg as a freshman in 2005.

USI hopes junior middle blocker Meg Buschman makes a healthy return to the lineup in 2007 after an ankle injury hampered her sophomore campaign. Buschman averaged 2.29 kills and 0.56 blocks as a freshman in 2005, but was limited to just nine games in five matches as a sophomore last season.

In 2006, the Eagles had five freshmen get their first taste of collegiate volleyball. In 2007, that class will be counted on heavily.

Leading the way for USI's sophomore class is middle blocker Ashley Henricks and outside hitter Courtney Bealor. Henricks was superb for the Eagles during her freshman campaign, leading the GLVC with 1.30 bpg. She also set a school record with 122 block assists and was third in the conference with 134 total blocks.

As a freshman, Bealor was second on the team and third in the GLVC with 0.56 service aces per game. With the graduations of former starting outside hitters Chelse Doubler and Emily Ryan, Bealor should see her 1.94 kpg increase during her sophomore campaign.

Look for the Eagles to utilize setter/right side hitter Kathi Hindman more during her sophomore season in 2007. Hindman, who saw action as a right side hitter in the spring, averaged 9.50 assists and 1.32 kills per game during her rookie season.

Two players that will be counted on more in 2007 are sophomore outside hitter/defensive specialists Jaclyn Johnson and Julia Ridley. Both saw limited playing time in 2006, but were brought in during key situations to provide a lift to the Eagles.

The Eagles are excited for the addition of sophomore setter/outside hitter Melanie Pund to the 2007 roster. Pund spent her first season of collegiate volleyball at Jacksonville State University where she saw action in 25 matches as a freshman and was a member of the Gamecocks' 2006 Ohio Valley Conference championship team and NCAA Division I Tournament qualifying squad.

During her prep career at Heritage Hills High School (Ferdinand, Indiana), Pund earned second-team All-State honors as well as first-team All-Conference accolades.

Joining Pund in their first year with the Eagles are a trio of incoming freshmen—outside hitter Brittani Oliver, right side hitter Jessica Chew, and defensive specialist Janae Curnutt.

Oliver graduated from Warren Central High School (Indianapolis, Indiana) where she earned first-team All-State honors as a senior and helped WCHS to the semifinals of the Lawrence North Sectional, losing to eventual Indiana Class 4A state champion Indianapolis Cathedral. A three-time All-Conference and All-County performer, Oliver was named to the Indianapolis Star's High School Volleyball Super Team, and was the All-Indianapolis East Player of the Year after racking up 305 kills, a .456 attacking percentage, 225 digs, and 82 blocks as a senior.

Chew makes her collegiate debut after helping Center Grove High School (Greenwood, Indiana) to a pair of sectional titles. A multiple-sport star at CGHS, Chew won the county championship in the high jump in 2006 and 2007 and finished in a tie for first in the high jump at the 2007 sectional championships.

Curnutt graduated from Hamilton Heights High School (Arcadia, Indiana) where she finished second in the state of Indiana in service aces per game (1.27) as a senior. She was a three-time Noblesville Ledger Athlete of the Year in volleyball, a four-time All-Conference performer, and a three-time All-County honoree. She recorded one of the top individual performances in the state in 2006 when she posted 10 service aces and hammered out 33 kills against Perry Meridian High School.

After opening the season with four matches in Pensacola, Florida, the Eagles travel north to take part in the Lewis Flyer Invitational in Romeoville, Illinois, the following weekend. In addition to their seven matches in Pensacola and Romeoville, the Eagles non-conference slate includes a regional bout at Tiffin University and a home date with Oakland City University.

The 2007 conference season features divisional play for the first time since 2003. USI will be in the West Division along with Drury University, the University of Missouri-Rolla, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Quincy University, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and Rockhurst University.

USI plays a home-and-away series with each team in the West Division, while it plays teams from the East Division only once. The East Division features Bellarmine University, Lewis University, the University of Indianapolis, Kentucky Wesleyan College, Northern Kentucky University, Saint Joseph's College, and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

The Eagles open conference play September 7 against Quincy and play defending GLVC regular-season champion SIU Edwardsville the following day. USI has 11 home matches, including a bout with defending GLVC Tournament champion Lewis October 5.

Post-season play begins with the GLVC Tournament November 8-10, followed by the NCAA II Great Lakes Region Tournament November 15-18 and the NCAA II Elite Eight November 29-December 1.