EVANSVILLE, Ind.- University of Southern Indiana Volleyball hosts the second annual Battle for the Lloyd match against crosstown rival the University of Evansville in the first half of this season's home-and-home series.
 
USI will host the first of the two games, marking the championship Battle for the Lloyd match on September 18 at 6:30 p.m. inside Liberty Arena for a Red Out theme. Admission to Friday's match and all USI Volleyball home games this season will be free courtesy of ProRehab. The match will be streamed on ESPN+ on Friday for those with a subscription.
 
For the second half of the series, the Screaming Eagles will travel across town to UE's Meeks Family Fieldhouse at 3 p.m., and tickets can be purchased at this link.
 
The Screaming Eagles return home to Liberty Arena for the first time since breaking the program's attendance record, hosting the school's first Division I top-25-ranked opponent, No. 21 Indiana University, on September 7 with 2,125 fans in attendance. The four-set match marked the first set taken off a ranked opponent in USI volleyball's DI era.
 
USI spent the weekend on the road at the Sports Imports Classic hosted by Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. The Screaming Eagles recorded wins over Youngstown State University (3-1) and finished the weekend with a win over Winthrop University (3-2) in the first five-set challenge of the season.
 
For their performances in USI's 2-2 week, senior Ashby Willis and sophomore Aysa Thomas earned Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week awards.
 
Willis earned her first Defensive Player of the Week honor for tallying 65 digs for a team high with 3.44 per set. The outside hitter proved her all-around play abilities by also leading the team with 55 kills for the week, marking a double-double in three of the four games.
 
Thomas earned her 10^th career weekly award from the league, as the Co-Setter of the Week for her 154 assists across the four games played last week with 9.06 per set. The setter tied her career high with seven blocks in the win over Winthrop. She finished the week with 37 digs, 12 kills, and 12 total blocks. The sophomore is close to a career milestone as she sits with 1,488 career assists, just 22 away from 1,500.
 
About Evansville: The Purple Aces are 2-8 so far this season, with both wins coming from a home-and-home series with Tennessee State on September 10 and 12. Evansville returned 11 players from last season and added five newcomers. Newcomer Lyla Fisher is leading the Aces' offense, adding 16 kills in their last match, and Kendall Agler led the team with 23 digs in the loss to UT Martin on September 15. Head Coach Zach Weinberg is in his second season at UE. He currently holds an 8-30 overall record, after the Aces went 6-22 in his debut season.
 
For game updates on this week's rivalry games, fans can follow USI Athletics and usivolleyball on Instagram, X, and Facebook, and online at usiscreamingeagles.com.