Macomb, IL - The WIU Volleyball team was back in action Friday, dropping the first game that they played 3-2 to South Dakota State and defeating Purdue Fort Wayne 3-1 in the final game of the night. 

The Leatherneck defense shined in their win over the Mastodons finishing with 9 total blocks, including 4 blocks in the first set and 3 blocks in the third set, both sets in which WIU won.

Karli Wenzel led the team in digs finishing with 21 digs against PFW and Juliana Schmidt led the teams in blocks with 2.5. Trailing 20-15 late in set one against Purdue Fort Wayne, Schmidt had a huge block that started a Leatherneck come back. That block led to a 9-4 run by WIU and gave them the first set win 26-24. PFW would respond in the second set winning the set 25-16. The third and fourth sets saw the Leathernecks keep their foot on the gas by taking leads late in both sets to give WIU the 3-1 victory. 

In the game against South Dakota State, WIU trailed 23-21 late in the first set. The Leathernecks would end the first set on a 4-0 run with multiple players contributing, including 2 kills from Elizabeth Ziegler to give WIU the win in the first set. The Jackrabbits would follow that up with back-to-back set wins to take a 2-1 set lead. In the fourth set, WIU would trail 11-3 to start the set. A Juliana Schmidt kill would spark a 7-0 Leatherneck run to cut the lead to one. The set would be close the rest of the way until a Keyana Cruse kill followed by a Karli Wenzel ace would give WIU a 22-18 lead and the Leathernecks would hang on to force a fifth set. The Jackrabbits would have a 5-0 run in the 5th set to go up 10-6 and the Leathernecks would drop the set 15-10. 

Keyana Cruse led the team in kills in both games, having 25 kills against the Jackrabbits and 21 kills against PFW. Cruse has had 20 or more kills in every game so far this season. Maggie Craker also had a good day offensively, leading the team in assists in both games, ending with 52 assists against SDSU and 47 assists against PFW. Craker has 182 assists over 4 games, 3 of which she has finished with 45 or more assists.  

The Leatherneck Volleyball team is back in action tomorrow afternoon at 3 PM against UIC to finish up the Hampton Inn Leatherneck Classic. UIC is currently 1-1 in the Leatherneck Classic after defeating Purdue Fort Wayne and losing to South Dakota State.