MACOMB, Ill. - The Western Illinois volleyball wraps up its home slate of competition this Friday and Saturday, November 6 and 8, as the Leathernecks play host to South Dakota and Oral Roberts. The Leathernecks open the weekend with a 7 p.m. match against the Coyotes on Friday before closing out Western Hall with a 1 p.m. match Sunday against the Golden Eagles. Sunday's contest will also be Senior Day, as Peyton Crosser and Jordan Jackson will be honored prior to the start of the match. Friday's contest with the Coyotes will be broadcast nationally on ESPN3.

MILITARY APPRECIATION DAY: Friday's contest against South Dakota will also serve as Military Appreciation Day. All current and former military members are encouraged to attend the match, as members of the military will be honored. Western Illinois' ROTC and Veterans Club will be in attendance for the match as well.

LAST TIME OUT: Western Illinois dropped a pair of road contests last weekend, falling to Denver and Omaha by 3-0 margins. Against the Pioneers, Melanie Patenaude registered a team-high 9 kills while Reilly Dunne's 12 digs and Morgyn Bullocks' 16 assist each led the team. In their match against Omaha, the  Purple and Gold were paced in kills, digs, and assists by Peyton Crosser (8), Kaili Simmons (15), and Abby Skryd (11), respectively.

SERIES HISTORIES: Western Illinois will be looking for the season sweep over the Coyotes after the Leathernecks picked up a 3-2 victory in Vermillion to open Summit League play. South Dakota leads the all-time series, 7-3. The Purple and Gold will be looking to even up the season series with the Golden Eagles when the two teams meet on Sunday after  Oral Roberts escaped with a 3-2 victory in the first meeting of the year. All-time, Oral Roberts owns a 32-5 advantage between the two programs.

A LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS: South Dakota enters Friday's competition holding onto the last spot in The Summit League Tournament. The Coyotes look to Audrey Reeg offensively, as her 325 kills rank fifth in the league. Kelsey Biltoft ranks third in the league in blocks per set (1.05) while Brittany Jessen ranks second in assists per set (10.76). Oral Roberts is paced by Larua Milos' Summit League leading 512 kills and 5.28 kills per set. Milos also leads the league in service aces per set, averaging .43. Tori Roe anchors the defense with 274 digs on the season.

ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS: Junior Kaili Simmons made the most of her Western Illinois debut at the 2015 Hampton Inn Leatherneck Invitational. The transfer from Missouri State-West Plains was named to the All-Tournament Team following a weekend in which she led the team in digs (42) and aces (5). The captain followed that performance with her second-career 'All-Tournament' from the Evansville Tournament. For the Weekend, Simmons tallied 43 digs, including 18 in Western's victory over Jackson State. Freshman Sierra Bauder claimed her first collegiate accolade at the Kansas Invitational as she was named to the All-Tournament Team. On the Weekend, Bauder collected 11 kills and eight blocks, with two of the opponents receiving votes in the latest polls. Jordan Jackson collected 'All-Tournament' honors from the Evansville Tournament as she helped guide Western to its first victory of 2015. In the win over Jackson State, Jackson tallied a career high 18 kills and season highs in aces (2) and blocks (7). Jackson ended the weekend with 34 kills over three matches. Peyton Crosser received Western's final All-Tournament accolade following the ISU Classic. During the tournament, Crosser recorded a season-best 16 kills against Valparaiso.

THE COACHING STAFF: Western Illinois is led by first-year head coach Kelly Richardson.  After serving as an assistant coach at UT-Arlington a season ago, Richardson joins the Leatherneck family and is joined by assistant coaches Dan Brown and Taylor Szypulski. Richardson has long-standing ties with Brown as Richardson and Brown's wife were college teammates. Richardson also knows Szypulski well, as the two were both assistant coaches at UT-Arlington during the 2014 season.