SIUE sweeps Idaho in home opener

EDWARDSVILLE – SIUE volleyball played its home opener in front of 487 fans on Friday night, sweeping Idaho in three sets on day one of the Cougar Classic. The set scores were 25-22, 25-19, and 25-23.

“Our fans give us so much confidence,” said outside hitter Sydney Hummert. “We all clicked tonight. From back row to front row, we executed balls and put down kills. It was a huge team win.”

The Cougars finished the contest with a .252 clip, their best attack percentage this season, while holding the Vandals to .165. SIUE concluded the match with season-high marks in kills (41), assists (38), and digs (47) during three-set contests.

“We are still in preseason mode,” said Head Coach Kendall Paulus. “We’re working through different lineups to see where we’re at. We love these tough moments. I love that we had a hard-fought game. We started slow each set but battled back in front of our home crowd. Our fans gave us an advantage, for sure.”

SIUE improved to 2-5 on the season while Idaho falls to 1-7. The Cougars improve to 15-12 all-time in home openers.

SIUE vs Idaho: Inside the numbers

• SIUE, the Ohio Valley Conference leader in total blocks, wrapped the contest with 11. Chelsey Abel led the Cougars at the net with five while Priscilla Jones, Savannah Christian, Bree Schreimann, and Hummert tallied three each.
• Hummert led the Cougars’ attack with 10 kills on 28 attacks, good for a .250 clip. She also led SIUE with five service aces, a career-high mark for the junior.
• Jones added nine kills on 13 attacks for a .615 attack percentage.
• On defense, freshman Abi Banitt posted 13 digs to lead the Cougars. Julia Treichel and Alyse Drifka contributed eight digs apiece.
• The setting duo of Drifka (19) and Corinna Jones (13) combined for 32 assists.

“We have two tough matchups tomorrow,” said Paulus. “I’m excited to start OVC play tomorrow at home in front of our fans.”

SIUE is back in action tomorrow, beginning with Milwaukee at 1:00 p.m. The Cougars will take on Western Illinois at 6:00 p.m., making the first conference matchup in the OVC this season. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.

Box score

SIUE vs Idaho: Team statistics

Team Statistics

Owen Hetherington, SIUE Sports Communications

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Owen Hetherington is an athletic communications assistant at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.

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