EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE begins Ohio Valley Conference play on Thursday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. at Tennessee State.
SERIES: The Cougars lead the all-time series 10-9 and are 6-6 when playing in Nashville. The two teams split the 2024 season with SIUE winning the first game 3-1 Oct.11 and falling in five sets Oct. 12.
AT THE TOP: Newcomer Vienna Elliot leads the OVC for total blocks at 51, this is also good for 60th in the NCAA. She also palces second in the OVC for blocks per set at 1.13. 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. Smith matched
Sydney Hummert's 19 kills against TSU in 2024.
TEAM EFFORT: As a team the Cougars rank second in the OVC for team assists (515), and for team kills (570) also good for 89th in the NCAA.
TAKE FIVE: SIUE has already played five five-set matches this season. Since 1995, the Cougars have gone 108-83 in five-set contests, including 48-47 since beginning DI play in 2012. The 2024 squad had a program-record 11 five-set matches.
KNOCK DOWN: SIUE volleyball put an end to Air Force's six game win streak Sept. 12 in a five-set decision.
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: Kendal 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 105-126. 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.
