EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE heads to Lindenwood for a single early week matchup.
SERIES: The Lions lead the all-time series 4-2. The Cougars played them three times in the 2024 season, splitting two regular season games and falling in the first round of the conference tournament (3-0).
CAREER-HIGH:
Olivia Hogan set a career-high with 25 digs, and
Sophie Robinson tied her career-high 17 kills against Western Illinois Oct. 3.
Teagan Sullivan also had a stand out game last weekend with a career-high 14 kills off 33 attempts and two block assists Oct. 4.
TEAM EFFORT: As a team the Cougars rank third in the OVC in blocks per set (2.08). SIUE posted a season-high .347 hitting percentage in its win over TSU, the program's best since hitting .337 against Eastern Michigan in 2024.
SERVES UP:
Sophie Robinson ranks third in the OVC for aces at 23 and Freshman
Ally Hughes ranks fifth at 20, highlighted by a career-high four aces against Michigan State (Sept. 20). As a team, SIUE sits fourth in the OVC and 72nd nationally in aces at 100, recently tying a single-season high of 11 aces against TSU (Sept. 26).
AT THE TOP: Junior transfer Vienna Elliot leads the OVC in blocks per set (1.14) and total blocks (67), also good for 62nd in the nation. Earlier this season she had a career-high six block assists against Seattle (Sept. 13).
COUGARS AT THE NET:
Grace Nichols had a career-high hitting percentage of .565, off of 13 kills and no errors against Binghamton (Sept.19). Grad student
Kyndia 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.
TAKE FIVE: SIUE is 5-1 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 109-83 in five-set contests, including 49-47 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 108-127. 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.
