SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Southern Indiana 3, Eastern Illinois 0
@Little Rock 3, Tennessee State 0
Western Illinois 3, @SIUE 1
SOUTHERN INDIANA 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Volleyball sweeps its first Ohio Valley Conference home series against Eastern Illinois University to move to 2-2 in conference play.
The Screaming Eagles continued the streak from the first game to take the first set of game two in the series. As a team, USI hit a .412 hitting percentage with 16 kills on just two errors. Freshman setter Aysa Thomas led a balanced offense, so four different Eagles landed at least three kills, led by Leah Coleman, who had four.
USI maintained the lead for most of the set, but the Panthers came back at the 23rd point, forcing the Eagles to battle back and forth to close out the win. Junior Ashby Willis tallied five kills to lead the court in the second set. Freshman Carley Wright doubled her kill total with another three. Sophomore Kerigan Fehr recorded her best set, picking up six digs to help keep the Panthers to their worst hitting percentage of the game.
In a rocky start, the Panthers forced as much as a five-point lead before serving runs from senior Keira Moore and Willis allowed the Eagles to retake control of the game. Thomas added three kills on her own, while dishing out 11 assists to get three Eagles to at least three kills. Sophomore libero Audrey Small led the back court with 10 digs in the final set.
For the game, Thomas tallied 31 assists, 10 digs, five kills, and two blocks to mark a double-double and a career-high in kills. Willis recorded 11 kills, 12 digs, and two solo blocks to mark her sixth double-double of 2025. Coleman tied with Willis to lead the team with 11 kills.
This series marks the first time a USI team has not dropped a set to an OVC opponent in a two-game series.
LITTLE ROCK 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Little Rock volleyball team won its fourth straight contest Saturday, sweeping Tennessee State for the second day in a row at the Jack Stephens Center and remaining unbeaten not only at home, but in Ohio Valley Conference play.
The Trojans (9-7, 4-0) swept the Tigers by scores of 25-16, 25-16, and 25-12, giving Little Rock 11 straight set wins dating back to the OVC opener win over SEMO. The Trojans have swept their last three matches while Tennessee State fell to 1-16, 0-5. Little Rock never trailed in the contest.
A'lanae Margaritha (.615), Vivian Lucumi (.533), Bella Cherry (.522), Jaycee Kennedy (.444), and Crismeyli Rodriguez (.333) helped the Trojans hit .356 for the match, totaling 46 kills to just nine attacking errors. Cherry led the way with 14, Lucumi and Rodriguez each had nine, and Margaritha added eight. Dariana Valencia (21) and Kaylee Smith (19) set 40 of 43 assists.
Cherry finished with a double-double, adding 11 digs. Andrea Roman also finished with 11 digs as the Trojans held Tennessee State to just .096 hitting. Margaritha and Lucumi led the Trojans with four blocks apiece, and Kennedy had three. Valencia had three of Little Rock's seven aces.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 3, SIUE 1
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Western Illinois volleyball bounced back on Saturday afternoon, defeating SIUE 3–1 inside First Community Arena. The victory moves the Leathernecks to 4–13 overall and 1–3 in Ohio Valley Conference play.
Western Illinois opened the afternoon in gritty fashion, battling through nine ties and seven lead changes to claim the first frame. After trailing 22–20, the Leathernecks stormed back behind kills from Kennedy Adair and Keyana Cruse, then capitalized on a service ace from Madelyn Norton to earn set point. Cruse sealed the comeback with a kill to take it 26–24 and give WIU a 1–0 lead.
SIUE responded quickly in the second set, using efficient hitting to pull ahead early and never look back. Despite strong defensive efforts from Adair and Hillary Estes, the Leathernecks dropped the set 25–15 as SIUE evened the match.
The third set mirrored the intensity of the opener, featuring 15 ties and several long rallies. Western leaned on strong serving and clean passing to keep the Cougars off balance, with Elizabeth Ziegler, Adair, and Cruse each contributing key kills. Late in the frame, the Leathernecks held off a late SIUE push and closed out another 26–24 win to regain control of the match.
With the match on the line, Western delivered its most complete performance of the afternoon. A balanced attack led by Cruse, Adair, and Ashlee Markert powered the Leathernecks to an early advantage. Norton and Alysia Perez guided a steady offense, while the front line combined for key blocks down the stretch. A late kill by Cruse, followed by an ace from Perez secured the 25–22 win and the match, clinching WIU's first OVC victory of the season.