THE COUGARS: Continue their 2022 campaign on Friday, Oct. 7 at 6:00 p.m. hosting Little Rock at First Community Arena. SIUE is 3-1 in its last four matches.
LAST TIME OUT: The Cougars' three-match win streak came to an end Tuesday at the hands of Lindenwood. The Lions swept SIUE in straight sets, as the Cougars hit just .038, committing 21 errors with 25 kills on 105 total attacks.
HOME AGAIN: SIUE is playing at First Community Arena for the fourth time this season after its first 13 matches of the season were on the road. Since 2016, the Cougars are 40-28 at home.
SERIES STUFF: The Cougars will face Little Rock for the first time in program history this weekend. The Trojans joined the Ohio Valley Conference in 2022 after playing 31 years in the Sun Belt.
SCOUTING THE TROJANS: Little Rock is currently 3-14 and 0-4 in OVC play after going 0-2 against Eastern Illinois last weekend. The Trojans were swept in both matches.
100 KILL CLUB: Four Cougars have recorded over 100 kills on the offensive end this season: Sydney Hummert (166), Savannah Christian (148), Julia Treichel (137), and Priscilla Jones (107).
TEAM CONFERENCE RANKS: SIUE and UT Martin co-lead the OVC with a .201 attack percentage in 2022. The Cougars' 12.30 average kills per set rank third in the conference.
INDIVIDUAL RANKS: Savannah Christian holds the sixth spot in the OVC with a .281 attack percentage. Caroline Waite's 6.44 average assists per set is good for seventh in the conference. Nicole Kijowski's 266 digs are fourth in the OVC while her 4.36 average digs per set stack up fifth. Sydney Hummert's 2.72 average kills per set rank ninth in the conference.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sydney Hummert earned Offensive Player of the Week honors in the OVC Sep. 19 after recording double-doubles in each match at the Green Bay Invitational. She led the Cougars with 43 kills, averaging a team-high 3.58 digs per set.
NEW FACES: SIUE welcomed five new faces in the off-season. The Cougars brought in Priscilla Jones, Monica LaFleur, and Caroline Waite as transfers, while adding freshmen Bree Schreimann and Paige Montgomery.
RETURNERS: Despite losing five graduating seniors, SIUE returns 10 players from the 2021 squad, including Savannah Christian, Julia Treichel, Nicole Kijowski, Sydney Hummert, and Alyse Drifka.
AT THE HELM: Head Coach Kendall Paulus is beginning her sixth season in charge of the Cougars. She owns a career record of 70-77 as head coach.
LAST SEASON: In 2021, SIUE put together one of the most competitive nonconference schedules in program history, standing toe-to-toe against three squads ranked in the RPI Top 100 and eight ranked in the RPI Top 150. The Cougars finished ninth in the Ohio Valley Conference last season, with an overall record of 6-23 and 3-15 in conference play.
