WHO| Western Illinois vs. South Dakota and Denver
WHEN| Friday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. and Monday, Nov. 17 at 12 p.m. 
WHERE| Macomb, Ill.
WATCH| South Dakota and Denver
LIVE STATS| Here
SOCIAL MEDIA| Twitter #TRADITIONofTOUGH

FIRST SERVE | Western Illinois volleyball will host their final home weekend of 2019, taking on the South Dakota Coyotes Friday (Nov. 15) and the Denver Pioneers (Nov. 17).

LAST TIME OUT | The Western Illinois women's volleyball team kicked off their weekend on the road Friday (Nov.9) as they took Oral Roberts to five sets. Cassie Hunt led the team with a career-high 41 assists besting her previous record by 15 assists. Mariah Mitchell with another career-high performance notching 24 kills. Aubrey Putman recorded her third double-double of her career with ten kills and 11 digs.

Western Illinois fell to Omaha in three sets (25-16, 25-19, 25-21) in their first Monday competition of the season on Nov. 11. Mitchell led the team with ten kills closely followed by JoJo Kruize with seven.

THANK YOU, SENIORS | The Leatherneck roster will graduate three seniors honored in this Sunday's game Mackenzie Steckler, Riley Schumacher, and Kruize. Steckler, a three-year starter for the Leathernecks, will be graduating in May. She has 583 career kills and 339 career blocks highlighted by her senior year blocking performance that landed her in the national rankings. Schumacher, an education major, a four-year member of WIU volleyball, has notched 242 career kills and 139 career blocks. Kruize, a political science major, joined the team for her final season this year has made a significant impact for the Leathernecks with 250 kills and 198 digs in the 2019 season.

DOUBLE THE WINS | WIU volleyball doubled its win total from last year. The six wins highlighted by Evansville, South Dakota State, and Oral Roberts. Four out of the six matches taken in three sets. The other two victories were both battled out to five. With three weekends remaining in regular season play, the Leathernecks will look to extend the margin from the 2018 season.

STOPPED BY STECKLER | As a team, the Leathernecks have only been out-blocked by five of their opponents in the 2019 season. With a total of 134 blocks on the season so far, a season-high for the team came against Mississippi State were the team totaled 28 blocks, Steckler, alone, out-blocking the opponent with 12. After the sweep over SDSU, she is number one in every blocking category, including rising to first in the Summit League for blocks per set (1.37), solo blocks (23), and total blocks (134). Nationally Steckler's blocking performance places her at 12th in total blocks and 23rd in blocks per set among NCAA Division I players. 

SCOUTING THE COYOTES | The Coyotes are led by head coach Leanne Williamson entering her fifth season as the head coach after leading the team to a Summit League Championship in 2018. The team currently has impressive 25-1 record boasting wins against Iowa and Northern Ill. only dropping one match to Iowa State.

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS | The Pioneers are led by head coach Tom Hogan in his fifth season with Denver. They are currently 19-7 overall and 11-3 in the conference only dropping match since the Leatherneck's last meeting.