EVANSVILLE, Ind.- University of Southern Indiana Volleyball tabbed two Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week honors after the first weekend of play. Senior Ashby Willis earned Offensive Player of the Week, and sophomore Aysa Thomas is Setter of the Week.
 
Willis and Thomas helped lead the Screaming Eagles to a 2-1 start to the season, claiming wins over Murray State University (3-1) and Northern Illinois (3-0) in the USI Invitational.
 
Senior captain Willis, also a member of the USI Invitational All-Tournament Team, tallied 54 kills for 4.91 per set across the three matches to lead the OVC. She maintained an average .288 hitting percentage throughout the Invitational, with a match high of .304 with 18 kills in the win over MSU.
 
Willis recorded a game-high 19 kills against Eastern Michigan University, along with 11 digs to mark her first double-double of the season. In the three-set sweep over NIU, Willis recorded 17 kills with a .286 hitting percentage, along with 17 digs.
 
This week's award marks the first time Willis has won the Offensive Player of the Week outright, after earning Co-Offensive Player of the Week last November.
 
Sophomore setter Aysa Thomas, the OVC's reigning Freshman of the Year, picks up her fifth Setter of the Week honor of her career. Thomas tallied 113 assists for 10.27 per set in the first three games of the season, to lead the conference. She dished out an efficient offense that averaged a .222 hitting percentage for the weekend.
 
Her game-high of the weekend came in the win over MSU with 43 assists along with four kills and three aces. The sophomore tallied her first double-double of the season with 36 assists and a team-high 22 digs against EMU.
 
 
The Screaming Eagles are back in action this weekend for the first road trip of the season at Georgia Institute of Technology, to take on the Yellow Jackets on Friday at 3 p.m., then Campbell University at 6 p.m. They'll close out the trip by playing Xavier University on Saturday at 12 p.m. Then USI returns home to take on No. 21 Indiana University on Monday, September 7^th, inside Liberty Arena.
 
For game updates on the upcoming road trip,  fans can USI follow USI Athletics and usivolleyball on Instagram, X, and Facebook, and online at usiscreamingeagles.com.