TUESDAY'S SCORES
@SIUE 3, Lindenwood 1
Southern Indiana 3, @Tennessee Tech 0
SIUE 3, LINDENWOOD 1
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE volleyball starts their week off with a four-set win against Lindenwood. The Cougars swept the first two sets (25-19,25-23), but fell in the third set (25-19) before claiming their win in the fourth set (25-20).
The Cougars improve to 12-11 overall and 7-5 in the Ohio Valley conference, ranking the Cougars fifth in OVC standings. The Lions fall to 8-10 overall and 4-6 in OVC play.
Sophie Robinson led SIUE with nine kills, she was followed by Anika Ivester and Kyndia Smith who had eight kills each. Three players had two aces including Olivia Hogan, Ivester and Ally Hughes.
Ivester also led the Cougars with three blocks, while Hughes tallied 23 digs and Hogan recorded 16 digs.
As a team SIUE had 46 kills, six aces, six blocks, 43 assists and 57 digs. While Lindenwood had 49 kills, eight aces, 11 blocks, 46 assists and 56 digs.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 3, TENNESSEE TECH 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - University of Southern Indiana Volleyball stretched its win streak to five with a sweep (3-0) at Tennessee Tech University in a midweek Ohio Valley Conference match Tuesday night.
The Screaming Eagles have taken five conference wins in a row to move to 8-3 in OVC play, and 12-11 overall, for the first winning record they've had this season.
The first set was decided by the service line, led by the Screaming Eagles, with four aces and one missed serve compared to Tennessee Tech's one ace and five errors. Senior Bianca Anderson and freshman Carley Wright led the USI offense with three kills each. The Screaming Eagles, who rank second in the NCAA in digs per set, picked up 20 digs, led by sophomore Audrey Small.
The first ten points were a back-and-forth challenge, but USI regained control by the twelfth point and built a lead. Junior outsides Ashby Willis and Leah Coleman led the offense with four kills each. As a team, the Screaming Eagles put together two total blocks. Small added another four digs, for 10 total for the team in the set.
After a six-point serving run from Willis, which included an ace, USI pulled away with a comfortable lead. Willis added seven kills, hitting a .250 percent with just two kills, to help the Screaming Eagles close out the set. Small picked up nine digs to help hold Tennessee Tech to their least efficient hitting set of the game at .043 percent. Anderson and Coleman helped the defensive effort by each adding a solo and assisted block.
For the game, freshman setter Aysa Thomas continued her double-double streak with 28 assists and 10 digs, moving to 16 in a row. OVC Freshman of the Week Wright tallied seven kills and two blocks.
Willis finished with 13 kills to lead the court, and Anderson followed with eight kills. USI led from the service line with seven aces.
Defensively, the Screaming Eagles held TTU to a .113 hitting percentage, with 54 team digs and six blocks. Small finished with 20 digs, marking her seventh game with 20 or more digs.