SIUE COUGARS (11-11, 6-5 OVC)
vs. LINDENWOOD LIONS (8-9, 4-5 OVC)
OCTOBER 28, 2025 | 6 PM
FIRST COMMUNITY ARENA


WHERE WE ARE: SIUE returns to First Community Arena after four games on the road. The Coguars start with an early week game Tuesday against Lindenwood. 

SERIES: Lindenwood leads the all time series 4-3. The teams met earlier this season (Oct.7) when SIUE swept the Lions in three sets. In their last meeting the Cougars also had a season-best hitting percentage of .358. Grace Nichols had a career-high 15 digs, and Kyndia Smith a new best hitting percentage of .556 against Lindenwood (10/7). 

DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Sophie Robinson had four consecutive matches with double-doubles. Her streak ended in game two against Southern Indiana. Robinson leads the team with 13 so far this season. Freshman Ally Hughes has six and Paige Bernstein has five. 

CAREER-HIGH: Against UT Martin, there were several career-highs including Claire Jones's 15 digs, Kennedy Pikes's four solo blocks and block assists, Teagan Sullivan's 15 kills and Olivia Hogan's 25 digs. Against Western Illinois (10/3), Robinson had a career-high of 17 kills and Sullivan had 14 kills off 33 attempts and two block assists. 

TEAM EFFORT: The Cougars had a single-game high of 79 digs in a four-set match against UT Martin (Oct. 17). As a team they rank second in the OVC for team assists (1,029), also good for 48th in the NCAA. 

SERVES UP: Robinson ranks fifth in the OVC for aces at 30. As a team, SIUE sits fourth in the OVC and 61st nationally in aces at 127, recently tying a single-season high of 11 aces against TSU (Sept. 26). SIUE has out-served their opponents this year averaging 1.58 aces per set. 

AT THE TOP: Junior transfer Vienna Elliot leads the OVC in blocks per set (1.13). Earlier this season she had a career-high six block assists against Seattle (Sept. 13). She also places fourth for total blocks (81). 

COUGARS AT THE NET: Nichols had a career-high hitting percentage of .565, off of 13 kills and no errors against Binghamton (Sept.19). Smith had a career-high 19 kills against Indiana State (Sept. 5), helping lead the Cougars to their first win of the season. She matched this career high against Seattle and Air Force. The Cougars have not had an athlete get 20 or more kills in a single match since 2023. 

THREE FOR SIUE: The team has had seven three-set matches this season going 3-4. All three of their wins are against OVC teams. 

TAKE FIVE: SIUE is 5-2 in five-set matches this season. Including a five-set decision against Air Force to end their six game win streak. Since 1995, the Cougars have gone 109-84 in five-set contests, including 49-48 since beginning DI play in 2012. The 2024 squad had a program-record 11 five-set matches. 

A NEW LOOK: The 2025 roster features 10 new additions: five freshman (Kinley Quast, Kennedy Pike, Morgan Jones, Ally Hughes, Maddie Determan) alongside one sophomore (Teagan Sullivan), three juniors (Vienna Elliott, Anika Ivester and Paige Bernstein) and one senior (Grace Nichols). 

DOUBLE TIME: Sullivan is a dual sport athlete for SIUE. During her freshman year she competed in track and field. She was recognized as OVC field athlete of the week (Jan. 25, 2025), she also recorded a PR long jump with a distance of 5.97m, good for third in the programs all-time performances. This will be her first season with the volleyball team, marking the start of her dual sport college career. 

TRANSFER TALK: Kendall Paulus and her staff welcome four transfers. Elliott joins the Cougars after two season with SIU Carbondale, Ivester comes from Omaha, Bernstein was previously at the University of Houston and Nichols is the lone interconference transfer from Western Illinois. 

PRESEASON HONORS: The OVC released its 2025 preseason volleyball poll Aug. 21, with SIUE picked to finish seventh. Also recognized was senior Bree Schreimann to the OVC watch list. Last season Schreimann appeared in 104 sets over 27 matches, averaging 1.62 kills per set and 74 total blocks. 

AT THE HELM: Kendall Paulus is in her ninth season in charge of the Cougars, owning an all-time record of 111-131. Paulus is SIUE's second longest tenured volleyball head coach behind Todd Gober, who coached the Cougars for 10 seasons. 

COACHING STAFF: Paulus added assistant coach Josh Comer and Graduate assistant Dante Pulphus to her coaching staff. Comer joins the Cougars after two season with McNeese. Pulphus recently graduated from Marian University 
where he received his Bachelor in Science and played men's volleyball.