USI defeated the Pumas in straight sets 25-18, 25-19, 25-18, but the real story of the game was the accomplishment of senior middle blocker Danielle LeGrange. Legrange recorded her 1,000th kill during the first game of the match.
“It felt awesome to have all my family here to support me and it was very rewarding,” LeGrange said. ”It felt good to do it here at home in front of the home fans.”
Other than a few surges by St. Joesph’s throughout the match, the Eagles had control over the match. A key contributor to USI’s victory was sophomore middle blocker Emily Diedrich.
“Our defense and our passing really picked up in the middle of the first and second sets,” Diedrich said. “I kept trying to hit the ball as hard as I could and tried different shots to win the game.”
Diedrich recorded 9 kills and 11 points over the three games. Other key contributors were freshman outside hitter Lauren DeShaney who also had 9 kills and junior ride side attacker Emily Meyer who had 8 points in the match.
“We have been working a lot on our defense, and it really showed tonight,” head coach Leah Mercer said. “We displayed a lot of systematic type of stuff, and we made good decisions on whom to set the ball to and get it to the right players.”
USI carried the momentum of that victory into the next game with a key comeback victory against UIndy’s Greyhounds. With the victory, the Eagles avenged a loss to the UIndy earlier in the season.
It didn’t look good for USI after they dropped the first set 22-25, but the team rallied back behind the solid play leader LeGrange to win the next three games 25-19, 26-24, 25-20.
Other key players for the Eagles were freshman outside hitter Fawn Ryan with 10 kills and senior defensive specialist Krista Coccaro with 10 digs.
The Eagles will try to continue to carry the momentum with them when they host the University of Wisconsin- Parkside on Friday and Lewis University on Saturday.