THE BASICS: SIUE volleyball continues its 2023 campaign on the road at the Purdue Fort Wayne Invitational. The Cougars will open the weekend with Miami (Ohio) (10:00 AM CT)Â and Valparaiso (3:30 PM CT)Â on Friday before closing with Purdue Fort Wayne (10:00 AM CT) on Saturday.
LAST WEEKEND: SIUE finished 2-1 at the Cougar Classic, taking victory over Idaho and Milwaukee before falling to Western Illinois in the Ohio Valley Conference opener. Junior Priscilla Jones was honored on the All-Tournament Team after pacing the Cougars' attack with 39 kills, 10 blocks, 44.5 points, and a .515 clip over three matches. Against Milwaukee, she recorded a career-high 17 kills.
ON THE ATTACK: Priscilla Jones leads the SIUE attack with 83 kills this season. She also leads the Cougars in attack percentage at .299. Sydney Hummert leads SIUE averaging 2.36 kills per set.
PRESEASON HONORS: Hummert picked up Preseason All-OVC honors on Aug. 16 following her 2022 season where she led the Cougars with 318 kills. Her 2.72 kills per set also led SIUE while ranking 10th in the conference. She added 266 digs and 27 service aces, both good for second on SIUE, while recording 38 total blocks.
OWNING THE NET: SIUE leads the Ohio Valley Conference and ranks 51st in the NCAA with 82 total blocks this season. The Cougars rank second in the league averaging 2.28 blocks per set. Chelsey Abel leads the Cougars and ranks first in the OVC with 33 total blocks this season.
DIG IT: Freshman Abi Banitt's 158 digs this season ranks sixth in the conference. Through the first nine games of the season, she is averaging 3.33 digs per set. She is the only Cougar to eclipse 100 digs this season. Julia Treichel ranks second on the squad with 89.
AT CENTER COURT: Alyse Drifka leads SIUE with 155 assists this season, averaging 4.56 per set. Corinna Jones has tallied 119 assists, averaging 4.10 per set. Last weekend, Grace Beekman dished out a career-high 29 assists vs. Western Illinois.
UP NEXT: SIUE travels to St. Charles, Missouri for a meeting with Lindenwood on Saturday, Sep. 23 at 6:00 p.m.
