MATCH NOTES

MACOMB, Ill. - After playing host to two in-state opponents early in the week, the Western Illinois volleyball team takes on conference foe IUPUI Saturday in the 2010 season finale in Indianapolis, Ind. The match is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. CT. 

Western Illinois (8-21, 3-14 Summit League) played its final two home contests of the season earlier this week and dropped matches to UIC on Monday and SIU-Edwardsville on Wednesday. The Fighting Leathernecks look to snap a five-match losing streak to the Jaguars (7-22, 6-11 Summit League), who picked up a 3-2 victory in Macomb on Sept. 24. Western held advantages in kills, assists and digs in that matchup, but IUPUI picked up 12 service aces and 11 total blocks to win a closely-contested contest.

MEDIA COVERAGE

LIVE STATS: Live Stats will be provided by IUPUI and available at GoLeathernecks.com by accessing the live stats link on the volleyball schedule page.

LIVE VIDEO: Fans can sign up for Jaguars All-Access at IUPUIJags.com to watch live video of the match.

SERIES HISTORY

IUPUI owns a 17-9 advantage in the all-time series between the schools, and has won five straight matchups. The last time the programs played in Indianapolis, Western committed 38 errors in a 3-0 loss on Sept. 12, 2009.

In the last matchup, Western Illinois had three players record double-doubles, but the Fighting Leathernecks fell 3-2 to IUPUI Friday, Sept. 24, at Brophy Hall. Down 2-1, the Leathernecks dominated the fourth set to force a fifth-set tiebreaker. Despite recording five more kills than IUPUI in the fifth set, Western fell 15-10 in the final stanza to drop the match.

Junior middle hitter Cait Egan led the Leatherneck offensive attack with 15 kills and a .324 attack percentage. Left side hitters Allison Gilbert and Brooke Stittleburg had 15 and 14 kills, respectively, and Gilbert chipped in 15 digs to record her first career double-double. 

Freshman Heather Smith had 32 assists and senior Ellen Miller chipped in 21 assists and 13 digs to collect her second double-double of the season. The Leathernecks had four players with double-digit digs with sophomore Bridget Murphy leading the way with a season-high 19. Overall, Western held advantages in kills (58-49), assists (57-46) and digs (79-75).  

WESTERN ILLINOIS QUICK HITS

Miller's Final Match - Senior Ellen Miller, who has competed in 119 matches over her career, plays in her final match as a Leatherneck Saturday. Miller collected a season-high 23 digs against SIUE Wednesday to pick up her 13^th consecutive double-digit effort. She leads the squad with 361 digs this season and owns 1,121 over her career, which is eighth all-time in program history. She needs just six more digs Saturday to move into seventh place. Miller also owns 341 assists this season and ranks seventh all-time in program history with 1,744 career assists.

Egan's Place on Blocks List - With two block assists against SIUE on Wednesday, junior Cait Egan moved into a tie for eighth place all-time in program history with 274 career total blocks. Egan also ranks sixth all-time in solo blocks (67) and ninth in block assists (207). She leads the squad with 26 solo blocks, 59 block assists and 85 total blocks this season.

Freshman Success - Freshman setter Heather Smith recorded her second double-double (15 assists and 10 digs) of the season against SIUE Wednesday and also picked up her team-high 25^th service ace. The LaSalle, Ill. native leads the squad with 612 assists and ranks ninth in the Summit League with 6.18 assists per set.

Stittleburg's Offensive Outburst - Junior right side hitter Brooke Stittleburg, who owned 166 career kills entering the 2010 season, ranks third on the squad with 233 kills. Stittleburg, who shared the team-lead with 10 kills against SIUE Wednesday, owns 12 double-digit efforts this season and has led the Leathernecks in kills 10 times.

Holum's Second Career Start - Junior setter Alyssa Holum picked up the second start of her career against SIUE Wednesday and collected her first two service aces to go along with a team-high 19 assists. Holum has collected 124 assists and 30 digs over the last seven matches while sharing setting duties with freshman Heather Smith.

Toczek's Start Streak - Junior middle hitter Megan Toczek has started the last 15 matches and collected 65 kills, six service aces, and a team-high 30 total blocks during that span. The Antioch, Ill. native had two solo blocks against SIUE Wednesday and has picked up six of her seven solo blocks over the last 15 contests.

SCOUTING IUPUI

IUPUI (7-22, 6-11 Summit League) enters Saturday's match on a three-match losing streak and has dropped six of its last seven contests overall. The Jaguars have won four matches since their 3-2 victory in Macomb on Sept. 24 and all four have come in conference play. IUPUI swept South Dakota State and Centenary at home, and picked up two victories over UMKC. Head coach Steve Payne, who is in his 14th season at the helm of the IUPUI program, spent two years as an assistant coach at Western Illinois from 1995-96. Payne also served as an athletic academic advisor while at Western.

Junior right side hitter Kalyse Reimbold ranks tenth in conference play with 2.86 kills per set, and had a team high 11 kills in the Sept. 24 matchup. Reimbold also ranks fifth in Summit League action with 20 service aces. Sophomore outside hitter Lindsey Weber ranks second on the squad with 2.57 kills per set and collected 10 kills on 40 attempts against Western.

Freshman setter Alexis Meeks, who ranks sixth in the conference with 8.87 assists per set, collected 39 assists and 10 digs in that matchup. Junior libero Shari Bernhardt, who was named the conference's Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 7, collected a match-high 29 digs in the Sept. 24 contest with Western and ranks third in conference play with 4.84 digs per set.