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Midwest Region Tournament Website
EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Southern Indiana volleyball team takes on Ashland University in the opening round of the NCAA II Midwest Region Tournament Thursday at 4 p.m. (CST) in Allendale, Michigan.
USI (24-8), which enters this week's eight-team regional as the No. 5 seed, is making its third trip to the NCAA II Tournament in the last three years and its fifth overall. The Screaming Eagles, who made their first appearance in the NCAA II Tournament in 2002, last qualified for the national tournament in 2011.
If USI wins its opener against Ashland, the Eagles will play the winner of the Grand Valley State University-Truman State University match in the semifinals Friday at 6:30 p.m. The championship match is slated for Saturday at 6 p.m.
Screaming Eagles' Notes
USI vs. NCAA II Tournament field in 2013: The Eagles are 2-4 this season against teams in the Midwest Region field and 3-5 against the entire NCAA II Tournament Field. USI was 1-1 against No. 24 Truman State, 1-0 against Lewis, and 1-0 against No. 25 Wheeling Jesuit. The Eagles went 0-2 against Indianapolis, 0-1 against No. 13 Grand Valley State, and 0-1 against No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth.
USI vs. NCAA II Tournament field since 1989: USI is 39-84 since 1989 against teams from the Midwest Region field, but is 31-16 against the rest of the NCAA II Tournament field.
USI in the NCAA II Tournament: The Eagles are 2-4 in their five trips to the NCAA II Tournament. USI is 1-0 against Lewis in the NCAA II Tournament, 1-0 against Ferris State, 0-1 against Grand Valley State, 0-1 against Northwood, 0-1 against Indianapolis, and 0-1 against Hillsdale.
NCAA II Midwest Region Tournament Pairings: No. 13 Grand Valley State (29-3, 17-1 GLIAC) is the top-seed and faces the No. 8 seed in national No. 24 Truman State (23-11, 14-4 GLVC) in the opening round Thursday at 6:30 p.m. (CST).
The first round of the Midwest Regional begins with the No. 3 seed Northwood (21-10, 13-5 GLIAC) taking on the No. 6 seed Indianapolis (24-9, 15-3 GLVC) at 11 a.m. The No. 2 seed and national No. 23 Ferris State (22-8, 15-3 GLIAC) plays the No. 7 seed Lewis (24-9, 16-2 GLVC) at 1:30 p.m.
Eagles have history in Allendale: USI's first two appearances to the NCAA II Tournament (2002 and 2004) were in Allendale, Michigan. In each instance, USI posted a win in the first round before bowing out in the semifinals.
USI receiving votes in final regular-season poll: The Eagles (8) received votes in the AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll of the regular-season, marking the third straight week USI found itself in consideration for the Top 25. Truman State, who fell one spot to No. 24, is the lone GLVC School left in the national ranking as Rockhurst dropped out after holding the No. 25 spot in the previous ranking. Grand Valley State (No. 13) and Ferris State (No. 23) represented the GLIAC in the Top 25, while Rockhurst (36), Ashland (35), Lewis (27), Indianapolis (22), and Northern Michigan (13) received votes.
Mercer earns first GLVC accolade: USI Head Coach
Leah Mercer '02 was honored as the GLVC Coach of the Year for the first time in her nine seasons at the helm of the Screaming Eagles. The Evansville native and North High School graduate is the second volleyball coach in school history to earn GLVC Coach of the Year honors—Katie Loyer, who coached Mercer, was the GLVC Coach of the Year in 2000. Mercer is the USI volleyball program's all-time winningest coach with a record of 165-114 (.591).
Eagles place five on All-GLVC teams: USI had five players earn All-GLVC honors. Sophomore middle blocker
Abbey Winter and junior outside hitter
Lauren DeShaney earned second team accolades, while senior libero
Kayla Heldman, senior setter
Jorae Bradbury, and junior outside hitter
Fawn Ryan earned honorable mention All-GLVC.
GLVC leaders: USI continues to lead the conference in blocks, averaging 2.50 per frame, which has contributed to the second-lowest opponent hitting percentage (.154) in the GLVC.
Sophomore middle blocker
Abbey Winter heads into this weekend's tournament leading the GLVC in blocks, averaging 1.43 per frame, while sophomore right side hitter
Erica Oberbroeckling leads in service aces, averaging 0.37 per frame.
Heldman continues to build on record: Senior liber
Kayla Heldman continues to build on her single-season and career records for digs. She currently has 1,834 career digs, including 576 this season.
Winter wonderland: Sophomore middle blocker
Abbey Winter has made a mess of the Eagles' single-season block records this season. Winter has 151 block assists this season, surpassing the former record of 122, set by Ashley Henricks in 2006, and 165 total blocks, eclipsing the former record of 134, also set by Henricks in 2006.
Bradbury closing in on 4,000 assists: Senior setter
Jorae Bradbury needs 77 assists to become the third player in school history to reach 4,000 in her career. She has amassed a career-best 1,130 this season, averaging 9.91 per frame.
Ashland Notes: Ashland advanced to the GLIAC title match, where it lost a heart-breaking five-set thriller to No. 13 Grand Valley State (25-22, 19-25, 23-25, 25-18, 19-17). The Eagles, who won 11 straight matches prior to the loss to Grand Valley State, (25-7, 15-3 GLIAC) captured the GLIAC South Division title for the second straight season.
Freshman outside hitter Alli Cudworth leads the Eagles with 3.66 kills and 4.2 points per set, while sophomore setter Shelly DeHenning leads Ashland with 11.01 assists per frame.
USI vs. Ashland: In a battle of Eagles, USI looks to break a one-match skid against Ashland when it takes on the former GLVC foe in the first round of the NCAA II Midwest Region Tournament. Ashland posted a five-set win over USI at the GLVC/GLIAC Crossover in 2010 after the Screaming Eagles had posted wins over Ashland in 2000 (3-0) and 2006 (3-1).
Ashland leads the all-time series since 1989 against USI, 8-4, and is making its second consecutive appearance in the NCAA II Tournament. In its first appearance in the Midwest Regional since 2007, Ashland advanced to the semifinals last season after defeating Northwood in five sets in the opening round.
Midwest Region conference tournament recaps: Indianapolis captured the GLVC Tournament title, defeating Truman State in four sets, to pick up its 10th straight win and fourth conference championship. Grand Valley State, meanwhile, won its 19th straight match and sixth GLIAC title with a five-set thriller over Ashland in the GLIAC Tournament Championship.
Cedarville claimed its second consecutive GMAC title with a three-set win over Kentucky Wesleyan, though no automatic bid is in place for the GMAC in 2013.
Tracking the NCAA II Midwest Region Tournament: Live statistics and video links will be available at gousieagles.com.
Ticket Information: Ticket prices for all of this weekend's matches are $7 per session for adults; $5 for senior citizens and children under 12, and $3 for college students of competing teams.
