MACOMB, Ill.- University of Southern Indiana Volleyball finishes off a historic 2025 regular season with a five-set win at Western Illinois University.
 
The win marks the end of a record-breaking regular season for the Screaming Eagles, earning the most Ohio Valley Conference wins in program history at 14-4. With an 18-12 overall record, this is the most season wins in the Division I era.
 
USI has secured the three seed in the team's second OVC Tournament appearance, and will take on No. 6 Tennessee Tech University on Sunday, November 23^rd at 1 p.m. in Charleston, Illinois, on the campus of OVC regular co-champions Eastern Illinois University.
 
Set 1: WIU 27, USI 25
The Leathernecks came ready to battle on their Senior Day, taking control of the lead in the first set and maintaining it to take the win. With the WIU defense putting up five blocks, the Eagles struggled to find the floor. Freshman Carley Wright and junior Ashby Willis led the team with four kills each. OVC Freshman of the Week Aysa Thomas dished out 10 assists to reach 1,000 career assists in the first set tonight.
 
Set 2: USI 26, WIU 24
The second set was a battle from start to finish, with 11 tie scores and five lead changes. The Eagles came out on top in extra points. Willis added eight kills with just one error, she hit a .412 percent in the set while picking up 10 digs. Libero Audrey Small tallied 11 digs, leading the Eagles' defense in the back court, helping the team to a match-high 39 digs. Three USI players put up a solo block, Wirght, Willis, and the OVC leader in blocks, McKenzie Murphy, added her 120^th block of the season tonight.
 
Set 3: WIU 25, USI 19
WIU maintained complete control of this set from the start, adding a five-set run to start. Senior Bianca Anderson recorded six kills, and with no errors, she hit a .857 percent. Small had another 11 digs, leading the court in defense. Thomas dished out 12 assists. The Eagles struggled offensively, marking their lowest team hitting percentage of the night at .125.
 
Set 4: USI 25, WIU 15
With a seven-point serving run from Willis, the Eagles quickly found a way to take control of the lead and forced the Leatherneck offense to its least efficient set, hitting a .043 percent. Willis led the court with six more kills, followed by junior Leah Coleman with five. Senior Keira Moore led the team with seven digs in the set. Behind Moore, four Eagles added five digs each, bringing the team total to 30 digs for the set.
 
Set 5: USI 15, WIU 9
In the Eagles' fifth time going to a fifth set this season, they struggled to take control of the lead as WIU kept it tied until the ninth point. Anderson kept her team's momentum up, adding points from the front and back row with two kills, two digs, and two blocks. Willis and Wright pushed the Eagle offense to the win with three kills each. Small finished off her career-high night with four more digs.  
 
For the game, the team tallied 130 digs altogether, breaking the program record previously set on Sept. 28, 1990, for the most single-game team digs. Small led this effort by recording a career-high 36 digs. Willis followed with 24 digs, breaking her season high and tying her career high. Moore was also over 20 with a season-high 22 digs. Also, with career-high digs was middle-blocker Anderson, who added seven.
 
Leading the Eagles' offense were four players with double-digit kills. Willis tallied 25 kills, breaking her career-high previously set in the win at the University of Evansville earlier this season. Wright and Anderson each added 15 kills, followed by Coleman with 12.
 
Setter, Thomas dished out 56 assists for a career-high, and with 20 digs, she added her 21^st double-double of her career. She pushed past the 1,000 assists mark, now holding 1,048 so far this season to rank second in the OVC. She has also tallied over 70 kills this season after adding three more tonight.

For updates on the Screaming Eagles as they prepare to hit the road to Charleston for the OVC Tournament, fans can follow USI Athletics on Facebook, Instagram, and X for game coverage, as well as online at usiscreamingeagles.com.