MACOMB, Ill. - Fighting Leatherneck volleyball hits the road after its home opening victory over Chicago State Tuesday to compete in the Hawkeye Challenge. Western opens the weekend tournament Friday versus UIC and Ball State before playing host Iowa and Drake on Saturday.

LAST TIME OUT: Fighting Leatherneck volleyball opened up the home portion of its season with a 3-0 win over Chicago State on Tuesday evening (Sept. 10). Western improves to 3-5 on the season while the Cougars fall to 0-8. "It was a good win against a tough team. Chicago State is very scrappy, their defense has always blown me away," head coach April Hall said. "I think we did a good job of persevering through that and our hitters did a great job knowing that we were going to have second-chance opportunities and trying to take advantage of that as much as they could. I think we did a great job; there's always room for improvement and I'm looking forward to seeing them [Chicago State] again next week."

HIGHLIGHTS FROM WESTERN'S WIN OVER CHICAGO STATE:

A LOOK AT UIC: The UIC Flames are a member of the Horizon League and enter the weekend with a 3-4 record. In their last action, the Flames went 2-1 in a home tournament on September 6-7. UIC defeated Marshall and Chicago State before dropping its final match to Summit League member Denver. Kara Johnson leads the Flames in kills with 94, while MaryKate Imrie owns a team-best 318 assists. Leading the Flames in service aces are Tracy Friel and Justine Garcia who each have eight on the season. Garcia has a team-high 80 digs, while Sara Sternard has tallied a team-best 21 blocks.

SERIES HISTORY: Western trails the all-time series versus UIC, 24-15. The in-state rivalry will be renewed after taking 2012 off. The Flames have won seven of the last 10 meetings with UIC defeating Western 3-1 in the most recent match in 2011.

A LOOK AT BALL STATE: The Ball State Cardinals are a member of the MAC and enter the weekend with a 4-3 record. Ball State went 2-2 last weekend in Minnesota including a victory over the Leathernecks. Alex Fuelling has 94 kills to lead the team, while Jacqui Seidel has a team-best 187 assists on the year. Kyle Baker owns nine service aces, which is a team-best. Catie Fredrich has a team-high 100 digs, and Hayley Benson has 23 total blocks, which is a team-high.

SERIES HISTORY: Western trails the all-time series versus Ball State, 4-1, with the most recent meeting taking place last weekend in Minnesota, where the Cardinals defeated the Leathernecks, 3-0. Western's lone win versus Ball State, a 3-2 victory, came on September 14, 1990.

A LOOK AT IOWA: Tournament host Iowa is member of the Big Ten Conference and enters the weekend with a 5-1 record. In their last action, the Hawkeyes fell at Valparaiso, 3-1. Iowa finished second in the Valpo Popcorn Classic with a 2-1 record, behind Valparaiso who went 4-0. Alex Lovell leads the Hawkeyes in kills with 102, while Nikki Dailey and Alyssa Klostermann own 155 and 122 assists, respectively. Bethany Yeager has a team-high 124 digs on the season, while Alessandra Dietz is the owner of a team-high 27 blocks.

SERIES HISTORY: Western trails the all-time series versus Iowa, 18-3. The Hawkeyes, who have earned wins over WIU in the last 14 meetings, most recently defeated the Leathernecks 3-0 on September 6, 2003. Western's last win versus Iowa came on October 2, 1982.

A LOOK AT DRAKE: Drake is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference and enters the weekend with a 1-6 record. The Bulldogs went 1-3 last weekend, defeating Montana State and falling to Wyoming, Idaho and Stetson. Amanda Platte leads Drake in kills with 79, while Rebecca Brown owns a team-best 171 assists on the year. Sarah Madden has a team-best 153 digs this season and Cassie Effken has 26 blocks, a team-high.

SERIES HISTORY: Western trails the all-time series versus Drake, 20-16-1. Drake has earned victories in the last four meetings. Most recently Western dropped a 3-0 match to the Bulldogs on October 20, 2009. Western's last victory came in 2005.

CAREER LIST: Setter Sarah Fetter has 2,411 career assists at Western, which ranks fifth in program history. Fetter is 529 assists away from fourth on the all-time list. Tracy Benson recorded 2,940 during her time on the court at Western (1983-87).

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Ann Miller was named to the CEFCU Classic All-Tournament Team on August 31st after she finished the weekend with 57 kills, a .417 hitting percentage, 34 digs, four service aces, and five blocks.  A week later Bailey Kaloupek was named to the Diet Coke All-Tournament team on September 7th after recording 46 digs (5.1 per set) throughout the tournament.

RECENT CAREER-BESTS: Mallory Gibson posted a new career-high on August 30th versus Bradley when she stuffed 10 total blocks. In WIU's August 31st match versus Tennessee-Martin, Ann Miller recorded a career-high 25 kills. During the Leathernecks' September 5th match at Northern Illinois, Bailey Kaloupek bettered her career-high in digs with 29.

SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Ann Miller was named Papa John's Scholar-Athlete of the Week on Tuesday, September 3rd, for her performance the week prior on the court and in the classroom; the honor is the second for Miller in her career. Off the court Miller is a two-time Summit League Fall Academic All-League Distinguished Scholar. The Bettendorf, Iowa native owns a 3.909 GPA and is majoring in Supply Chain Management. 

THE SCHEDULE: Western's 2013 schedule breakdown: four tournaments made up of 12 matches, three additional non-conference contests, and 14 Summit League matches. The Leathernecks play eight matches at home in Western Hall or Brophy Hall, and 21 matches on the road.

THE COACHING STAFF: Head coach April Hall enters her second season at Western and has hired a pair of new coaches. Laura DeBruler, who concluded her collegiate volleyball career at Illinois in 2010 is the Leathernecks' full-time assistant, while Bridget Murphy, who completed a decorated career at Western Illinois as a defensive specialist last fall is the team's graduate assistant.

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