MACOMB, Ill. - The Western Illinois volleyball team briefly steps out of Summit League play Tuesday night (Oct. 18) to host in-state rival DePaul inside Western Hall. The contest is set to begin at 7 p.m. and will conclude the Fighting Leathernecks' five-match homestand.

Western Illinois (10-11) split a pair of home matches to South Dakota State (W, 3-0) and North Dakota State (L, 0-3) over the weekend. The Fighting Leathernecks, who have won three straight meetings with DePaul, play host to the Blue Demons for the first time since 2006 when they cruised to a 3-0 victory behind Ashley Baker's 16 kills.

SCOUTING DEPAUL

DePaul is 4-16 overall and sits in 14th place in the 15-team Big East Conference with a 1-6 record in conference play. The Blue Demons are under the guidance of second-year head coach Nadia Edwards, who was a middle hitter on Penn State's 1999 national championship squad. Freshman Amy Lanski leads DePaul with 3.00 kills per set while junior Rachel Aumann contributes 2.16 kills per set. Sophomore Natalie Rizzo has collected 53 total blocks while junior Kelsey Bowler tops the squad with 4.10 digs per set.

DePaul shares three common opponents with Western Illinois this season, including two Summit League members. The Blue Demons defeated South Dakota in five sets at the Wyoming Invite, lost at Illinois-Chicago in four sets and fell in five sets to IPFW at the Cleveland State Tournament.

DePaul owns a 16-12 overall advantage in the series history but Western Illinois has won three straight meetings. The two programs last met on Sept. 4, 2009 when Western Illinois opened the DePaul Challenge with a 3-2 win at McGrath Arena. Elise Crnjak led Western with 19 digs while Ellen Miller had 37 assists and 10 digs. Cait Egan, Allison Gilbert and Megan Toczek each had 10 kills to pace the Leatherneck attack. Western was able to pull out the victory despite DePaul having a 59-49 advantage in kills. Katie Hosteng chipped in nine kills and four block assists.

The last time the two programs met in Macomb on Sept. 8, 2006, Ashley Baker tallied 16 kills as Western Illinois swept DePaul inside Western Hall. Erin Frick collected nine kills and four blocks while libero Jennifer Alexander compiled 14 digs.  

EGAN SIX KILLS AWAY FROM 1,000

Senior Cait Egan put down 16 kills on 44 attempts over the weekend and now owns 994 career kills. She is just six kills away from becoming the ninth player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills.

Egan will become the fourth player under tenth-year head coach Kym McKay to enter the exclusive club (Ashley Baker, Amy Sauerwein and Monique Houston). The last Fighting Leatherneck to join the 1,000 career kills club was Monique Houston (2005-08) on Oct. 10, 2008 at South Dakota State.

Egan also owns 333 career total blocks, which ranks fourth best in program history. She currently sits seventh in the Summit League with a .265 attack percentage.

BRIDGET MURPHY MOVES UP RECORD BOOK

Junior Bridget Murphy averaged 6.16 digs per set over the weekend but saw her run of 20-plus dig performances end at nine matches. She had 25 digs in three sets against SDSU and 12 in three sets against NDSU. Murphy, who owns 12 20-plus dig efforts this season, leads all Summit League competitors with 5.95 digs per set.

Murphy's 5.95 digs per set currently ranks fifth in the nation and she is helping the Western Illinois defense rank fourth in the nation (18.60 dps). Murphy owns 1,104 career digs and passed Kim Phillips (1989-93) into ninth all-time in program history against SDSU. She has earned two tournament MVP honors and the Summit League's Defensive Player of the Week (Aug. 29) so far this season.

MOLLY MURPHY BAFFLES WITH SERVE

Freshman Molly Murphy collected a service ace against SDSU to raise her conference-leading total to 33 aces. She currently ranks 29th in the nation with 0.43 aces per set. Murphy also ranks third on the team with 2.61 digs per set.

MILLER DOUBLES UP SDSU

Freshman Ann Miller collected 11 kills and 15 digs against SDSU for her first double-double since Sept. 30. She now owns a team-high 11 double-doubles this season. Miller is second on the squad with 263 digs and third with 192 kills.

HOSTENG STEPS IT UP IN CONFERENCE PLAY

Junior Katie Hosteng put down 12 kills against SDSU for her fifth double-digit effort of Summit League play. Hosteng leads all Leathernecks with 111 kills during conference play and ranks sixth in The Summit League with 2.92 kills per set against league opponents.

FETTER SHINES AT SETTER

Sophomore Sarah Fetter dished out 40 assists against SDSU for her eighth 40-plus assist effort this season. Fetter, who is averaging 10.18 assists per set against league opponents, ranks fourth in the conference in assists (9.82 aps).