MATCH NOTES

MACOMB - The Western Illinois volleyball team will finish the home portion of its 2010 schedule this week as the Fighting Leathernecks take on Illinois-Chicago Monday and SIU-Edwardsville Wednesday at Western Hall. Both matches start at 7 p.m.

For the second-consecutive week, Western (8-19) will play an in-state rival on a Monday night. The Fighting Leathernecks picked up a five-set victory at Chicago State last Monday, and will look for their second-straight win over Illinois-Chicago after last season's road victory (Nov. 10, 2009).

On Wednesday, Western will look to sweep its season series with SIU-Edwardsville for the second-straight season. Earlier this season, the Fighting Leathernecks picked up a five-set road victory over the Cougars on Oct. 11.

The Fighting Leathernecks are 3-2 against in-state opponents so far this season, and have collected 28 wins over Illinois programs under ninth-year head coach Kym McKay.

MATCH PROMOTIONS

MONDAY (NOV. 8) - UIC

Western Illinois Volleyball is welcoming all Western Illinois University Sororities to attend Monday's match against the UIC Flames. Sorority members are encouraged to wear their letters and cheer on the Leathernecks to a victory. Also, all students can sign up for a chance to win an iPOD Touch as they enter the game. Following the home finale on Nov. 10, one lucky student's name will be drawn as the winner of the iPOD Touch. You must be present to win.

WEDNESDAY (NOV. 10) - SIU-Edwardsville

All students can sign up one last time for a chance to win an iPOD Touch. Following the match, one lucky student's name will be drawn and awarded the iPOD Touch. You must be present to win.

MEDIA COVERAGE

ONLINE: LIVE STATS will be available at GoLeathernecks.com by accessing the live stats link on the volleyball schedule page.

Subscribers to Rocky Vision at GoLeathernecks.com can watch WIUTV3's live broadcast of Monday's match.

TV: Monday's match will be broadcast live on WIUTV3 (channel 3, Macomb) with John Kendall providing play-by-play and Dakota Horn as the color analyst. Wednesday's broadcast will be a single-camera production and aired on WIUTV3 via tape delay.      

RADIO: All home matches during the 2010 season can be heard on WIUS (88.3 FM) radio. Michael Broskowski (play-by-play) and Nick Ficarrotta (color) will be calling the matches. WIUS radio broadcasts are streamed live online at GoLeathernecks.com and can be heard here.

SERIES HISTORIES

UIC: Western Illinois won the most recent matchup against Illinois-Chicago (Nov. 10, 2009) but UIC holds a 22-15 series advantage. In the last matchup, Katie Hosteng had a career-high 19 kills to help Western Illinois rebound from an opening-set loss for a 3-1 road win over UIC. Hosteng hit for a .415 percentage and had five total blocks. Cait Egan chipped in 15 kills for the Leathernecks with a .467 hitting percentage while Ellen Miller had 52 assists. Miller also had 12 digs while Bridget Murphy led the defense with 14 digs.

The Flames won four straight meetings prior to last season's home loss. The Leathernecks fell 3-1 to the Flames the last time the programs met in Macomb on Oct. 21, 2008. Western and UIC have split eight meetings in Macomb and the Leathernecks are 3-4 versus the Flames under head coach Kym McKay.

SIU-Edwardsville: Wednesday is the fourth meeting all-time between Western and SIU-Edwardsville, with the Leathernecks up 3-0 in the series. Western only dropped one set in two meetings last season. In the last meeting in Macomb, Allison Gilbert had a match-high 16 kills and Ellen Miller collected a double-double (38 assists and 15 digs) in the Leathernecks' 2009 home opener on Sept. 1, 2009. 

Western Illinois rallied back from a 2-1 deficit to collect a 3-2 victory at SIU-E on Oct. 11. The Fighting Leathernecks hit .267 and held SIU-E to a .05 attack percentage over the final two sets to stay undefeated (3-0) all-time against the Cougars. Junior Cait Egan had a team-high 16 kills and a .414 attack percentage to lead the Leathernecks offensively. Freshman Meghan Ross set a career-high with 12 kills and junior Allison Gilbert chipped in 10 kills. Senior Ellen Miller posted 39 assists and 19 digs while sophomore Bridget Murphy had a team-high 21 digs.

SCOUTING UIC

Illinois-Chicago (12-15) is a member of the Horizon League and recently began a four-match road trip with a 3-0 loss at Marquette on Nov. 2. The Fighting Leathernecks and Flames have shared three opponents this season (Troy, Evansville, Eastern Illinois). The Flames swept Troy on Sept. 11, and dropped 3-0 decisions at home to both Evansville (Sept. 21) and Eastern Illinois (Oct. 11).

The Flames are under the guidance of second-year head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley, a former All-American player at Penn State. Schumacher-Cawley, who won a national championship with the Nittany Lions in 1999, spent six seasons as an assistant coach at UIC before taking over as head coach following the 2008 season.

Sophomore outside hitter Kelsey Safranek, who was named to the Horizon All-Newcomer Team in 2009, leads UIC with 3.29 kills per set. Sophomore middle hitter Janise Dismuke (2.35 k/s) leads the Flames with a .315 attack percentage and 95 total blocks. Freshman outside hitter Aubrey Sniegowski (2.16 k/s) and senior middle blocker Epiphany Davis (1.49 k/s) are also major contributors to the Flames offensive attack and receive sets from senior Jessica Dalke, who ranks third in the Horizon League with 10.39 assists per set. Dalke, a transfer from Ole Miss, also owns a team-high 27 service aces this season.

SCOUTING SIU-EDWARDSVILLE

SIU-Edwardsville (12-14) has lost six of eight matches since a five-set home loss to Western Illinois on Oct. 11. The Cougars, who dropped matches at Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky over the weekend, have shared six common opponents with the Fighting Leathernecks this season. SIU-E has recorded wins over SEMO, Chicago State, UMKC, USC-Upstate, Bradley and lost at Evansville.

Senior Sydney Winslow leads SIU-Edwardsville with 2.96 kills per set and a .280 attack percentage. Winslow had a match-high 17 kills on 27 attempts against Western on Oct. 11. Freshmen outside hitters Lexi Cibulka (2.35 k/s) and Julia Whitfield (2.41 k/s) combined for 25 kills in that matchup and take sets from sophomore Sammi Minton, who averages 9.88 assists per set. Junior middle hitter Jessica Hemann leads the team with 53 total blocks and is third on the squad with 185 kills.