EVANSVILLE, Ind.- University of Southern Indiana Volleyball hosts Tennessee State University at newly renamed Liberty Arena on Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. USI Volleyball celebrates Senior Day on Saturday as we congratulate our five seniors Paris Downing, Abby Weber, Jasmine Green, Lauren O'Neill, and Carly Sobieralski on their monumental contributions to the program.
 
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. Tickets to USI Volleyball home games are free curtesy of ProRehab. In game updates will be provided on Twitter, while pregame and post-game updates can be found on all three @USIAthletics platforms. 
 
USI HEADLINES
Tight Losses in Edwardsville. The Eagles struggled with hitting efficiency and self-inflicted errors on Friday losing in four sets (22-25, 25-23, 18-25, 22-25). USI committed 31 errors, while hitting at a .120 clip.  More struggles ensued on Saturday dropping the first two sets, before evening the match at 2-2, winning sets three and four, showing signs of the team who beat Southeast Missouri State University in the opening weekend. However, USI fell four points shy of the reverse sweep dropping set five (17-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-23, 11-15).
 
Huge Movement the Books. Three different Eagles dipped into the top five/ten in the USI record books last weekend. Downing's 14 total blocks gave her 300 career blocks climbing into tenth all-time. The senior also cemented herself into tenth in block assists with 248. Sobieralski racked up 90 assists last weekend jumping into fifth all-time in assists at 2,690. Sobieralski needs to average a monstrous 51.66 assists per match to eclipse the 3,000 mark in the regular season. Former Castle product, junior Keira Moore totaled 55 digs on the weekend jumping from 11th to 7th in the all-time book with 1,194. Weber jumped into the ninth all-time in digs after posting a season high 17 digs on Saturday, currently sitting at 1,182.
 
Success of the Middles. Middle hitters junior Bianca Anderson and Downing led the Eagles offensively last Friday with 13 kills each. Downing shinned in the second set with seven kills and four blocks, finishing with a season high seven blocks. Anderson dominated in stretches on Saturday with 17 kills, while Downing added 12. Downing combined for a monstrous 14 total blocks on the weekend.
 
Moore's Defensive Genius. USI libero, Moore continues to deny attacks with 433 digs this season, diving across the court with zero fear. Moore's 433 digs this season, chases her season high in 2023 of 498, which ranks fifth all-time for a season. The libero has been scorching hot in OVC play with 11 straight matches of totaling 15+ dig performances. Moore averaged 28.5 digs per match over the past weekend, earning a season high 31 on Saturday, falling one short of tying her career record. She ranks fifth in the conference in digs per set with 4.76 and fourth in total digs.
 
Road to Reaching OVC tournament. USI suffered demoralizing losses to SIUE last weekend as the Cougars sit one spot ahead of the Eagles in seventh place with a two-game lead behind the eighth-place tie. The cutoff for making the OVC tournament is the top eight seeds. Moreover, each team will then compete in a single-elimination game format with the regular season champion hosting. USI is currently tied with Eastern Illinois University and University of Tennessee at Martin, while Tennessee State University sits one game behind. The Eagles remaining schedule includes two games against TSU, Tennessee Tech University, and Morehead State University. Moreover, USI holds tie breakers over EIU. UTM and SIUE hold tiebreakers over the Eagles if the situation occurs. Furthermore, both USI and TSU seasons fate heavily relies upon this weekend.
 
USI Strengths and Weaknesses Statistically. Sobieralski continues to shine, helping the Eagles rank third in the conference in assists per set (10.01). The Eagles also excel on the back line in digs ranking third (17.74 per set). USI also ranks fourth in the OVC in kills (12.66 per set). The Eagles have struggled with hitting percentage (9th, .166), opponent percentage (8th, .203), blocks (9th, 1.78 BPS), and service aces (10th, 1.23 SAPS). USI will need to improve on their block rate as the Tigers rank second in blocks. USI struggled at the net as the Cougars out blocked the Eagles 34-19 last weekend.
 
Movement Around the League.  SEMO (10-2) split with Tennessee Tech snapping their nine-game OVC win streak. However, the Redhawks slide into first as Lindenwood University (11-3) was swept by Morehead State University over the weekend. University of Arkansas at Little Rock (10-4) stays at third going 1-2 last week. Western Illinois University (9-5) drops to fourth after a loss to Lindenwood on Tuesday. Morehead State (7-5) sits one game ahead of Tennessee Tech (6-6), while SIUE moves into seventh (5-7). USI, EIU, and UTM hold a three-way tie for eighth.
 
Saturday's Senior Day.  USI Volleyball celebrates senior day for Green (2024 grad transfer), O'Neill (2021-24), Downing (2021-24), Weber (2020-24), and Sobieralski (2021-24). This group has laid the foundation for teams to come battling through adversity and contributing to multiple programs defining accomplishments. USI Volleyball will celebrate their contributions to this program after the conclusion of Saturday's match.