Championship Central |
Tournament Bracket | GLVCSN:
USI vs. S&T
EAST PEORIA, Ill. – For the first time since 2004, the University of Southern Indiana is the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) volleyball champion after a five-set win on Sunday over Missouri S&T at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Ill.
Making their first appearance in the league title match since 2008, the third-seeded and No. 21 Screaming Eagles won the second and third sets before hanging on in the deciding frame, 15-9, to down red-hot Missouri S&T, which was seeded fifth in the postseason tournament. USI completes the spring with a 17-4 record.
Taylor Litteken led the Eagles with 15 kills on .300 hitting, including two in the fifth set. Sidney Hegg knocked down 12 kills from the middle, chipping in four block assists. Overall, USI totaled 10 blocks in the win to finish the weekend with a massive 33 stops at the net. Five Eagles finished with double-digit digs, as senior libero Callie Gubera scooped up a team-best 19 and Abby Weber totaled 18. All-GLVC First Team outside Leah Anderson added 11 kills and 13 digs in the win. Senior Casey Cepicky, who ranks third all-time in assists in USI history, dished out 41 helpers on Sunday, while recording 10 scoops.
The Miners earned their first-ever trip to the GLVC Volleyball Championship match this spring and finishes the 2021 spring campaign with a 14-7 mark. Payton Gannaway recorded a match-best 23 kills, while GLVC Freshman of the Year Jordan Burton added 20.
USI head coach Randi Raff was a team captain for the 2004 GLVC champion Eagles. In just two seasons at the helm of the program, USI has knocked off nationally-ranked Lewis University (twice), University of Missouri-St. Louis, and Rockhurst University.