University of Southern Indiana Athletics

EVANSVILLE, Ind.- University of Southern Indiana split the first two games of the USI Invitational on Friday, taking a win over Murray State University and dropping the match against Eastern Michigan University.
 
USI came out strong in the first match of the 2026 season, taking a four-set win over MSU to start the day, but fell to EMU in a tough four-set match to end Friday's play.
 
MATCH 1:
SET 1: USI 25, MSU 22
The Screaming Eagles came out strong through the first 15 points, maintaining a .429 hitting percentage, with five players with at least two kills. Senior outside Ashby Willis led the court with six kills. Sophomore Aysa Thomas ran a balanced offense, dishing out 14 assists.
 
SET 2: MSU 25, USI 16
Sophomore Carley Wright added four kills, bringing her total to eight after two sets. The Racers tallied three aces and added 16 digs, keeping the USI offense to a .086 hitting percentage.
 
SET 3: USI 25, MSU 15
USI bounced back to dominate the third set, adding 18 team digs and five aces to keep the Racers at a .029 hitting percentage. Freshman Aubrey Fair took the court to tally her first three kills of her college career. Wright and Willis added four kills each, leading the team with 12 kills each.
 
SET 4: USI 25, MSU 16
The Screaming Eagles continued to dominate from the service line, adding four more aces as a team, led by Willis with two. Wright continued to lead the offense, adding six more kills, while Fair continued her dynamic debut performance, adding four kills.  
 
Sophomore Grace Bach hit the court for the first time in her college career, tallying four kills and two blocks. Willis led USI with 18 kills and seven digs, Wright was close behind her with 14 kills and seven digs. Leading the back row was junior libero Audrey Small with 18 digs, along with seven assists and two aces.
 
Reigning OVC Freshman of the Year, Thomas, dished out 43 total aces, with eight digs and four kills. Thomas helped the USI offense maintain a .263 hitting percentage through the end of the match.
 
MATCH 2: 
SET 1: EMU 25, USI 20
The Screaming Eagles dropped a close opening set against EMU. Willis tied her single-set high with six kills. Wright added a balanced effort, leading the team with five digs and three kills. Fifth-year transfer Aspen Jankowski took the court for her first time as a Screaming Eagle to add an ace.
 
SET 2: EMU 25, USI 20
USI kept it close in the second frame, tallying 23 team digs and 16 kills to turn the team hitting percentage up to .120, tripling the set one number. Wright added seven kills to the board, reaching double-digit kills along with Willis to lead the court.
 
SET 3: USI 25, EMU 20
The Screaming Eagles avoided a sweep by increasing the offensive efficiency at the net, with a hitting percentage of more than double their first two sets (.265). Fair added five kills from the outside to match her previous game-high of seven. Jankowski came off the bench to add another ace to the board.
 
SET 4: EMU 25, USI 23
USI kept it close in the fourth set, going point for point throughout before allowing EMU to inch a lead in the final four points. Willis led the team, adding six more kills to her total and two more digs to earn a double-double for the match. Wright landed four kills and three digs to earn herself the first double-double of her career.
 
For the second match of the day, four Screaming Eagles recorded double-doubles along with Willis and Wright. Thomas dished out 36 assists and 22 digs to lead the team. Small earned her first double-double as a Screaming Eagle with 19 digs and 11 assists.
 
Jankowski came off the bench against EMU to land three aces in her first match at USI. Bach and Fair added to the newcomers' performance, adding three and nine kills, respectively.
 
The Screaming Eagles are back on the court tomorrow afternoon to finish out the USI Invitational against Northern Illinois University at 2 p.m. For game updates fans can USI follow USI Athletics and usivolleyball on Instagram, X, and Facebook, and online at usiscreamingeagles.com.