EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The University of Southern Indiana volleyball team opens the 2019 home schedule this week hosting the USI Invitational. The Screaming Eagles will battle Ohio Dominican University to open the tournament Thursday.

The USI Invitational features six teams including USI: Arkansas Tech University, Kentucky State University, Kentucky Wesleyan College, Ohio Dominican and Shorter University.

Coverage of the USI Invitational can be found at GoUSIEagles.com, or on the USI Invitational tournament central page.

The Screaming Eagles

USI Volleyball holds a 3-4 record in 2019 after splitting four matches in the Warrior Invitational at Wayne State University in Detroit last weekend.

Senior middle hitter Elexis Coleman (Joliet, Illinois) and freshman outside hitter Leah Anderson (Bloomington, Illinois) were named to the Warrior Invitational all-tournament squad. Coleman amassed 30 kills on a .356 hitting clip and 15 blocks while Anderson collected 35 kills, 22 digs and five aces.

Anderson leads the charge for the Eagles on the attack, with 73 kills (3.17 kills per set) this season, followed by Coleman and freshman right side hitter Katherine Koch (Belleville, Illinois) with 59 each.

As a unit, the Eagles have tallied 43 service aces in 2019 through seven matches, led by Anderson and senior libero Mikaila Humphrey (Floyd Knobs, Indiana) with nine each. It took 14 matches to reach 43 aces in 2018.

The Field

Arkansas Tech: The Golden Suns hold a 3-5 record to this point in 2019, including an 0-3 record against Great Lakes Valley Conference representatives. The Suns posted a 17-12 record in 2018, earning a bid into the Great American Conference tournament with a 10-6 league record.

Kentucky State: The Thorobreds have earned a 5-2 record, having already played five matches (4-1) in Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. Kentucky State went 23-22 (14-3 SIAC) last season, making a deep run into the conference championship tournament, despite getting swept out of the USI Invitational to begin the 2018 season.

Kentucky Wesleyan: The Panthers have collected a 5-3 record to date, including a five-set victory over GLVC member Maryville University. KWC went 14-16 in 2018, with an 8-11 mark in Great Midwest Athletic Conference action.

Ohio Dominican: KWC's GMAC rival, also the Panthers, have not faired well in 2019, opening the campaign 0-7; though most of its schedule has consisted of NCAA II Tournament berths from the past two seasons, including No. 12 Ferris State University. These Panthers went 6-25 (1-18 GMAC) a year ago, including a 1-3 finish in the 2018 USI Invitational, defeating Kentucky State in three sets.

Shorter: The Hawks come to Evansville with a 3-4 tally thus far, hoping to stop a three-match losing skid. The Gulf South Conference representatives posted a 12-15 (8-8 GSC) record last year, including a three-set loss to Arkansas Tech.

The Screaming Eagles v. The Field

USI v. ODU: The Eagles hold a 2-0 advantage over Ohio Dominican, with both three-set victories coming in USI-hosted tournaments (2014, 2018).

USI v. Arkansas Tech: The USI Invitational is the first all-time meeting between the Eagles and Golden Suns. Arkansas Tech has dropped matches to the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Rockhurst University and the Missouri University of Science & Technology (all GLVC squads) so far in 2019.

USI v. KWC: The Eagles hold a commanding 47-1 lead in the series over the Panthers since 1989, including 33-straight dating back to a hard-fought, five-set loss in 1995.

USI v. KSU: The Thorobreds have yet to defeat USI through 11 attempts in the all-time series. The Eagles have only ceded one set to Kentucky State over five matches since the start of this decade.

USI and Shorter are not scheduled to cross paths in the 2019 USI Invitational and never have to date.

Where To Look

The 2019 USI Invitational webpage features links to all participating schools' websites, schedules and rosters, along with the match schedule and additional information for the entire tournament.

All matches, except Ohio Dominican-Kentucky Wesleyan on Friday, will be streamed on the GLVC Sports Network (glvcsn.com/usi) with live stats available at GoUSIEagles.com.