EVANSVILLE, Ind.—University of Southern Indiana Volleyball is back in action Saturday at 3 p.m. when it travels to Romeoville, Illinois, to take on No. 14 Lewis University.
The Screaming Eagles return to Screaming Eagles Arena a few days later when they host McKendree University Tuesday at 7 p.m. USI rounds out a busy slate that sees it play four matches in eight days by hosting Truman State University October 1 at 7 p.m. and the University of Missouri-St. Louis October 2 at 3 p.m.
If you go:
Lewis is requiring fans to wear proper face coverings and try to social distance as much as possible. Fans attending the games will need to fill out an
online screening form, which also will be accessible via a QR code reader when entering Neil Carey Arena.
USI requires proper face coverings inside Screaming Eagles Arena and for fans to practice safe social distancing practices while attending USI Volleyball matches.
Game Coverage
All four matches will be aired on the
GLVC Sports Network, while live stats are available at
GoUSIEagles.com.
About USI
The Eagles (7-3, 1-1 GLVC) are coming off a tough five-set road loss to Missouri University of Science & Technology this past Saturday after earning a three-set home win over Maryville University last Thursday.
Freshman outside hitter
Abby Weber (Fishers, Indiana) had 3.63 kills per set and a .349 attacking percentage to lead the Eagles, offensively, while senior setter
Casey Cepicky (St. Louis, Missouri) set up the Eagles' offense with 10.50 assists per frame. Senior libero
Callie Gubera (Thorntown, Indiana) averaged 4.63 digs per set to lead USI's back row.
On the year, sophomore outside hitter
Leah Anderson (Bloomington, Illinois) is averaging 2.78 kills per set and is one of five USI players averaging at least 2.0 kills per frame. Cepicky is averaging 9.32 assists per set, while Anderson is averaging a team-high 0.62 aces per game.
Senior middle blocker
Sidney Hegg (Menasha, Wisconsin) and junior middle hitter
Taylor Litteken (Forristell, Missouri) are averaging 0.86 and 0.81 blocks per set, respectively, while Gubera leads USI with 4.03 digs per frame.
About Lewis
The Flyers (7-3, 2-0) picked up a three-set home win over Quincy University before earning a four-set road win at William Jewell College to open GLVC play last week. Sophomore outside/right side hitter Natalie Stefanski averaged 4.57 kills per set and hit .347 on the weekend and was named the GLVC Offensive Player of the Week.
Senior middle hitter Ava Venema averages 3.48 kills per set and hits .365 to lead the Flyers on the year.
USI Volleyball Notes
• USI-Lewis matchup. The Eagles split last season's regular-season series with the Flyers, with each team earning a five-set win on their opponent's home court. USI is just 8-22 against Lewis since 2000, but has won two of the last three meetings after earning a four-set win over Lewis at Screaming Eagles Arena in 2019.
• USI-McKendree matchup. USI is 10-8 since 2000 against McKendree after sweeping the regular-season series with the Bearcats last season. McKendree enters this weekend's matches with a 3-6 overall record and a 1-0 mark in GLVC play.
• USI-Truman matchup. The Eagles are 3-11 since 2000 against Truman State after defeating the Bulldogs in four sets at Screaming Eagles Arena a year ago. The Bulldogs enter this weekend's slate with a 2-8 overall record and an 0-1 mark in GLVC play.
• USI-UMSL matchup. USI is 22-12 since 2000 against Missouri-St. Louis after earning a four-set, non-conference win over the Tritons at the USI Invitational earlier this month. The Eagles earned a three-set win over the Tritons in last season's GLVC Tournament semifinal match after losing to Missouri-St. Louis in three sets during the regular season. The Tritons are 7-3 overall and 2-0 in GLVC play entering this week's contests.
• AVCA Top 25 watch. USI continues to receive votes outside the AVCA Top 25 Coaches' Poll. No. 14 Lewis leads the GLVC's contingent of four teams earning recognition from the AVCA. Rockhurst University is No. 21, while Missouri S&T also is receiving votes.
• Cepicky closing in on history. Cepicky needs just 17 digs to become the 12th player in program history to reach the 1,000 dig plateau and the first player in program history to reach 1,000 digs and 3,000 assists.
• Pink Game. USI is encouraging fans to wear pink to its match against Truman State on October 1 to help raise breast cancer awareness.
