at Southern Indiana (2-0): 3
Hillsdale College (1-1): 0
EVANSVILLE, Ind.---- The University of Southern Indiana volleyball team kept the sweeping success going, defeating Midwest Region opponent Hillsdale College, 25-21, 25-19, 25-21, Friday evening in its second match of the Dunn Hospitality Invitational played at the Physical Activities Center.
The Screaming Eagles improved to 2-0 on the season, while the Chargers, who defeated Cedarville University earlier in the day, fell to 1-1.
Senior outside hitter
Fawn Ryan (Batesville, Indiana) led the Eagle offense with a match-high 11 kills, while classmate
Lauren DeShaney (Appleton, Wisconsin) followed closely behind with nine.
At the net, junior middle blocker
Abbey Winter (Germantown, Illinois) totaled a team-high seven blocks, and following the conclusion of day one leads the tournament with 11, averaging 1.83 blocks per set.
All nine USI players who saw action in the match contributed defensively, racking up 42 digs, with freshman defensive specialist
Jessica Lee (Mackinaw, Illinois) leading the pack with 12. Lee also holds a tournament lead, with 32 total digs, averaging 5.33 per set.
Other contributing players included sophomore setter
Quin Shoultz (Columbus, Indiana) who totaled 23 assists along with three kills and five digs, and junior
Erica Oberbroeckling (Westfield, Indiana) who ended the night with six kills and two blocks. Freshman
Shannon Farrell (Munster, Indiana) and junior
Erin Goldschmidt (Smithton, Indiana) added seven and five digs, respectively.
Although USI was able to race out to a 10-5 lead in the opening set, the Chargers fought back until the end, closing the gap to 20-17. Though the Eagles committed multiple errors in the later part of the set, Hillsdale could overtake USI and watched as they grabbed the 25-21 win.
The Eagles were a real threat in the following frame, gaining a 20-10 lead over Hillsdale. The Chargers would not back down, however, as they went on a five-point run, forcing USI to call a timeout. After the quick break, the Eagles sealed the deal with a 25-19 win.
The final frame was much like the other two: USI trying to hold its lead over the Chargers. Hillsdale fought to knot the score at 19-19, then 21-21, but the Eagles carried the momentum needed to capture the set win, going on a four-point run to claim a 25-21 victory over Hillsdale.
USI takes on another Midwest Regional team, Ohio Dominican University, Saturday at 11:30 a.m., before concluding the Dunn Hospitality Invitational with a 7 p.m. bout against 23
rd ranked University of West Florida.
Ohio Dominican ended day one with a 3-1 loss to Great Lakes Valley Conference member, University of Missouri-St. Louis, before defeating University of West Alabama in five sets. The Argonauts of West Florida swept both Lincoln Memorial University along with Missouri-St. Louis.
