Evansville, IN- Western Illinois Volleyball completed the sweep over Southern Indiana with another three set win this afternoon at Screaming Eagles Arena. The Leathernecks are now in fourth place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings with a conference record of 6-3.
Keyana Cruse finished the match with a match-high 15 kills with a hitting percentage of .308. Julianna Schmidt also had a solid performance for WIU, finishing the match with 7 kills on 10 attempts.
Maggie Craker had 37 assists and Karli Wenzel led WIU in digs for the second straight match finishing with 13 digs. Wenzel finished the weekend with 49 digs with an average of just over 8 digs per set.
In set one, Keyana Cruse and Julianna Schmidt would combine for eight of the Leathernecks 15 kills in the set to lead the way offensively. Cruse would have two of the first three kills to open the set giving WIU an early 3-1 lead. The two sides would exchange the next 12 points with the Leathernecks holding on to a 9-7 lead. The Screaming Eagles would then go on a 9-2 run taking the set lead at 14-10. Back-to-back kills by Julianna Schmidt and Brittany Wulf later in the set would bring WIU to within two points at 16-14. An 11-7 run for the Leathernecks to end the set would give them the 25-23 set win. Grace Nichols would have two huge kills during the run to seal the victory in set number one.
In set two, Southern Indiana and Western Illinois would go back-and-forth early, but a 6-2 run by the Screaming Eagles would put them up 7-4. Just like in set one, the Leathernecks would go on a big 9-2 run to take the set lead at 13-9. During the run, Brittany Wulf had back-to-back kills to give WIU the lead in the second set, and Keyana Cruse would have two kills and a solo block to extend the lead at 13-9. Wulf would again have back-to-back kills later in the set putting the Leathernecks up four by a score of 17-13. Grace Nichols and Elizabeth Ziegler would have a big block late in the set to give WIU the set two victory by a score of 25-21.
Just like the night prior, set three would be controlled by the Leathernecks for most of the set as they would jump out to a 6-1 lead to start the third set thanks to kills from Keyana Cruse, Grace Nichols, and Elizabeth Ziegler. The Screaming Eagles would tie the set at 9 after an extended 8-3 run by Southern Indiana, but that would be the closest USI would get as WIU would go on a 9-3 run to take control of the set at 18-12. During the Leatherneck run, the Leatherneck defense would have 2 total blocks, with two block assists coming from Julianna Schmidt. Schmidt would add a kill and Brittany Wulf would have a service ace to extend the Leatherneck lead. WIU would end the set on a 5-1 run giving them the set three victory over Southern Indiana by a score of 25-18. The Leathernecks have now swept three opponents in conference play with sweeps over Eastern Illinois, SIUE, and Southern Indiana.
WIU will be back at Western Hall next Friday and Saturday when they host UT Martin. Friday's match is scheduled for 6 p.m. while Saturday's match is scheduled for 2 p.m.
FOLLOW THE LEATHERNECKS
For all the latest information on Leatherneck Volleyball, please visit GoLeathernecks.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Leathernecks on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.
