WHO: Morehead | Evansville | UAB

WHEN: September 12-13

WHERE: Evansville, IN (Meeks Family Fieldhouse)

Last Time Out: The Leathernecks competed in the SLU Tournament hosted by Saint Louis last weekend, falling to Saint Louis and Murray State but earning a win against Austin Peay. WIU opened on Friday, dropping three of five sets to Murray State. Keyana Cruse led the Leathernecks with fifteen kills. WIU returned to the court on Saturday afternoon, falling to Saint Louis in four sets.

All-Tournament Team: Keyana Cruse and Jaleah Bauss each earned a spot on the All-Tournament team last weekend. Graduate outside hitter Keyana Cruse led the team with 44 kills and 44 digs on the weekend. Freshman setter Jaleah Bauss led the team with 54 assists and 12 service aces.

OVC Players of the Week: Grace Kremer was named the co-defensive Player of the Week after her 15 block performance at the St Louis Billikens invitational. She becomes the first Leatherneck this year to earn a weekly honor from the OVC.
 

Chasing 1,000: Keyana Cruse surpassed the 1,000 kill milestone at the Billiken Invitational last weekend. With her 42 kills, Cruse has now amassed over 1,000 kills in a Leatherneck uniform. She also needs just 90 digs to surpass 1,000 digs in her WIU career.
 

New Faces: WIU welcomes eight new faces to the 2025 squad. Kiyah Franklin transfers into WIU from Youngstown State. In her four years as a Penguin, Franklin totaled 301 kills and over 75 blocks, playing well in 62 matches. Alysia Perez also transferred into WIU after spending her freshman season at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Head Coach Dale Starr also welcomes six freshmen from five different states. Mount Sterling native Ashlee Markert and Martyna Sowiak both come from Illinois. Jaleah Bauss travels north from Texas. Aubrey Pender joins the Leathernecks from Arkansas. Caroline Clayton travels east from Kansas, and Ella Haines travels south from Wisconsin. 
 

Returning Stars: Senior Keyana Cruse leads the nine Western Illinois returners. Cruse led the team in points (590), kills (519), sets played (114), matches started (30), and leads all returners in digs with 463 and blocks at 72. In all ten sets played, Cruse led with 37 kills. Elizabeth Ziegler returns to the right side for WIU. The Sandusky, Ohio native appeared in all 30 matches last season, playing in 114 sets. Ziegler posted a career high with 260 kills last year. 
 

Ohio Valley Polls: Western Illinois was predicted to finish 6th in the preseason polls. This is the highest preseason projection for WIU since joining the Ohio Valley Conference. Last year's OVC regular season champion SEMO sits atop the preseason poll with 194 points, claiming 15 out of the 22 first-place votes. Lindenwood and Tennessee Tech both received first-place votes as well.