MACOMB, IL - The Western Illinois Volleyball team is back in action at the Linda Herman Volleyball Classic in Normal, IL, starting with a match at Illinois State on September 11th at 6pm, and followed by a match on Saturday, September 12th, at 1pm vs Purdue Fort Wayne.

Western Illinois comes into this weekend with an 0-6 record, but having just played their best match of the season in a close loss to Northern Arizona University by a score of 2 sets to 3. The Leathernecks are led in kills on the season by Kennedy Adair and Georgia Haynes, who have 50 and 38 kills respectively. Adair is also second on the team in digs with 50, trailing only Grace Ulatowski, who has 65 total digs on the season. For the blocks category, Maria Eduarda Pereira Tonella is in a league of her own on the Leathernecks, with 18 total blocks on the season, with no other Leatherneck having more than 9. That total is also good for 4th in the conference to start the season. Western Illinois 184 total attempts against Northern Arizona also marks the most by any team in the OVC in one game this season.

 

Friday

Western Illinois will face Illinois State on Friday at 6pm. The Match against Illinois State will be the 27th in series history, although the 2 teams have not met in a match since 2011. The Redbirds are coming into this match with a 5-1 record on the season, and are in the midst of a 5 game win streak as well. Ruth Ziegler is leading the team in 3 of the major statistical categories, which are kills, blocks, and aces. Samantha Bunch leads the team in digs as well. This season marks the best start to a season for the Redbirds since 2019, and their team is hoping to extend that good start even further this weekend.

 

Saturday

The Leathernecks will battle Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday at 1pm, which will mark the 6th match in series history. The Leathernecks trail 4-1 in the series, but did win the last match between the two in 2024. Purdue Fort Wayne has started the season 3-4, but does have a win over Rutgers this season. PFW has 2 girls with over 100 kills, Riley Rosneck and Trinity Rye. Becky Barrett leads the Mastodons in digs with 129 as well.The Leathernecks will look to build on momentum from the previous game, and have a great showing this weekend at the Linda Herman Volleyball Classic.

All games will be streamed on ESPN+

 

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