EVANSVILLE, Ind.- University of Southern Indiana Volleyball makes a weekend Ohio Valley Conference road trip to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. The matchup brings massive conference standing implications as the Screaming Eagles and Cougars are tied for seventh place currently. The Eagles only have eight games left with the top eight teams in the conference earning spots in the tournament.
 
Coverage
Both volleyball matches on ESPN+ can be found at the links above or on the USI Volleyball schedule where you can also find the live stats. Ticket links can also be found above or purchased at the door. In game updates will be provided on Twitter, while pregame and post-game updates will be on all three platforms @USIAthletics. 
 
USI HEADLINES
Swept in Martin. Before their bye weekend, USI struggled to close sets falling in three sets to University of Tennessee at Martin for the second time (21-25, 21-25, 23-25). The differences became late runs as the Skyhawks mounted an 8-3 run to finish the first set, a 4-1 second set concluding run, and a 6-2 match finishing run in set three. The five-game slide has including opponents hitting at a .229 percentage compared the Eagles .140. Opponents have also totaled 20.5 more total blocks than the Eagles, along with being outscored by 68 points, winning two of the past 17 sets.
 
Utilizing Anderson in Multiple Ways. The Eagles were predicted to finish sixth in the Ohio Valley Conference in the 2024 preseason poll, with junior middle hitter Bianca Anderson chosen as the player to watch. The junior recently has stepped up her defensive game totaling a career high eight blocks against the Skyhawks last Tuesday in only three sets. Anderson is also dangerous with middle hits and elusive slides tallying 208 kills, only 36 short of her previous season high of 244 in her sophomore season.
 
Willis in the Clutch.  Sophomore Ashby Willis has become the target hitter who brings consistency into every match along with the ability to take over in clutch scenarios racking up double-digit kills in eight OVC matches. Willis tied her career high of 19 kills at Eastern Illinois University dating back to her days at Purdue University Fort Wayne. The outside hitter also shines defensively eclipsing a new career high in digs at 24 in only three sets against WIU.
 
Moore Holding it Down. While the Eagles have been struggling, junior Keira Moore has seen an ample amount of attacks from the back row as the libero. The junior has tallied 15+ dig matches in nine straight matches, averaging 19.3 digs per OVC match. She has also distributed 38 assists in OVC play, along with 11 service aces. The junior ranks sixth in the OVC at 4.59 digs per set with 376 on the year.
 
Pivotal Senior Leadership. As the Eagles look to snap out of their skid, multiple USI seniors are capable of stepping up in to boast the team mentally and physically in Paris Downing, Abby Weber, Carly Sobieralski, Lauren O'Neill, and Jasmine Green. However, the vocal leader of the bunch is Green who is frequently seen pushing her teammates on and off the court vocally, along with instilling immense confidence by hyping big plays up or lifting a teammates head when an error is made. The right-side transfer from Bradley University has also stepped up her offensive efficiency in the past four matches with a .267 attacking percentage. The grad senior has averaged 9.25 kills per match and 2.85 per set.
 
Back to Mixing Up the Attack. USI uses a variety of attackers from different angles to confuse the defense. Moreover, seeing one player earn high percentages of the teams' kills is usually not the case when the team is swinging well. USI looks to regain this attack as in the three OVC wins this season, four different Eagles finished with at least eight kills. Four different Eagles have eclipsed 200+ kills in sophomore Leah Coleman (201), Anderson (208), Green (201), and Willis (239). Regaining consistent production scattered around the net is pivotal to the USI offense.
 
Digging Into the Record Books. Senior setter Sobieralski continues to climb the record books surpassing 2.6K assists in Martin as she sits in sixth all-time, only 70 assists out of the top five. Former Castle product, Moore surpassed 1,000 career digs in a season high 29 dig performance against UT Martin on October 1. Moore currently sits at 11th all-time (1,137), only 21 digs outside of the top ten. Weber surpassed the 1,000 mark early in the season along with entering the top ten last week at 1,154. Downing has been denying attackers her entire career with 286 career blocks, only six outside of the all-time top ten.
 
Scouting SIUE. The Cougars (8-13, OVC 3-7) fell back into a tie for seventh place with the Eagles after dropping their midweek match to the Eastern Illinois Panthers in four sets. Before the loss, SIUE split a series against a strong Morehead State University squad. The Cougars earned multiple strong non-conference wins this season over Eastern Michigan University, University of Chattanooga, Bellarine University, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, and Missouri State University. However, the lone common non-conference opponent with USI resulted in a loss against Indiana University Indianapolis. The Cougars have also handed Lindenwood University their only loss this season in conference play along with wins over Morehead State and Tennessee State University. The Cougars are led by senior outside hitter Sydney Hummert with 203 kills, but SIUE has five different attackers with 100+ kills.
 
Movement Around the League.  Lindenwood University continued to dominate with their seventh straight win moving to 11-1. After the split at Screaming Eagles Arena, the Redhawks have won eight straight OVC matches against Eastern Illinois, Tennessee State University, Morehead State University, and Little Rock. The Trojans dropped the huge matchup on Tuesday night against the Redhawks staying at third (9-3), while Western Illinois University is right on the Trojans heels in fourth (8-3). The Cougars fell back into a tie for seventh with the Eagles after losing to EIU on Tuesday. UT Martin and EIU are also looking to snatch the eighth and final tournament slots after playing better in recent matches.