EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The Cougars return to First Community Arena to continue conference play. Volleyball will take on Lindenwood for a two game series on Friday at 5:00 pm and Saturday at 3:00 pm.SIUE is 1-2 in the all-time series against Lindenwood. The Cougars have gone 0-1 when playing the Lions at First Community Arena. During their last match up in 2023, the Cougars won one of four sets.
THE BASICS: SIUE volleyball was defeated by Western Illinois in their first conference game of the season. In the two game series, the Leathernecks won 3-1 and 3-0. The Cougars return back home to take on Lindenwood at First Community arena October 4-5.
CAREER BEST: Senior
Sydney Hummert recorded her 1,000th career kill Saturday, September 28, against Western Illinois. In game two against the Leathernecks, Hummert reached this milestone by scoring point 17 of the first set. Overall, she had 13 kills, hitting at .458, a new single-game high.
DOUBLE TROUBLE: So far this season, there have been 10 double-doubles recorded by four different players. Hummert leads with four,
Ainsley Ranstead follows with three,
Alyse Drifka has two and
Corinna Jones recorded her first double-double against Western Illinois.
TEAM LEADERS: Hummert leads the teams in kills (122) averaging 2.90 per set, and in service aces with 13, averaging .31 per set.
Nicole Medlin leads the team in attacks (minimum 50 attempts) at a .338 clip. Drifka leads the team in sets with 267, averaging 4.77 per set. Freshman
Taya Nordmann leads the team and the OVC with 71 blocks, averaging 1.27 per set, and
Olivia Hogan leads the team with 148 digs this season.
PRESEASON HONORS: Hummert was recognized as an OVC player to watch this season. In her 2023 season she led the Cougars with 315 kills. Her 2.76 kills per set also led SIUE while ranking 9th in the conference. She added 300 digs and 35 service aces,while recording 66 total blocks. Hummert locked away 793 total digs last season surpassing the 500 career marker.
AT THE HELM: Head Coach
Kendall Paulus enters her 17th season with the Cougars and her eighth as head coach, with a career record of 90-102.
