Wright State volleyball takes on Southeast Missouri on Friday, Sept. 15 at 12 p.m. in the Chicago State Invitational this weekend. The Raiders will also face Louisiana at 6 p.m. on Friday and Chicago State at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Wright State

Wright State is on the road again this weekend after playing at home last weekend in their Holiday Inn Invitational where they finished 1-2 overall.  WSU defeated Tennessee Tech Friday night 3-1 in a well-matched battle, but dropped matches to Harvard and West Virginia.  Freshman Abby Barcus led the Raiders with 42 kills over the weekend and was named to the Holiday Inn Invitational All-Tournament Team.  Abby posted a career-high 19 kills against West Virginia when she helped her team immensely at the net, posting a .350 hitting percentage.  Senior libero Jessie Thornton led the Raiders in digs over the weekend with 52, and broke the Wright State volleyball career digs record of 1,693 in the first set against Harvard after tallying seven digs for the Raiders.  Thornton is currently third in the Horizon League with 178 digs with an average of 4.81 per set.  Senior middle blocker Megan Hopkins is leading the Raiders so far this season with 38 blocks with an average of 1.03 per set.  This average puts Megan sixth in the Horizon League for blocks so far in the 2017 season.

Southeast Missouri

Southeast Missouri is currently 5-6, coming off of their third weekend of competition and a game against Southern Illinois Tuesday night.  The Redhawks were 5-2 going into last weekend, but they dropped three games over the weekend against Montana, Drake, and Omaha, and another game on Tuesday. They are currently in seventh place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings.  Southeast Missouri is third in their conference this season for blocks with an average of 2.09 per set, so the hitters need to be ready at the net and prepared to place the ball in the open pockets.  The Redhawks are also third in their conference this season for service aces so WSU's back row needs to be prepared to get into position and pass the ball well to setter Maddie Lohmeier to stay in-system.  The Raiders will take on Southeast Missouri Friday afternoon at 12 p.m.

Louisiana

Louisiana is currently 4-6, coming off of their third weekend of competition.  The Ragin' Cajuns played in the Rice Invitational this past weekend and dropped all three matches against Rice, California, and Mississippi State.  They are currently in fourth place in the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference standings.  Louisiana's defense is very strong as they are first in their conference this season for blocks with an average of 2.51 per set, and they are second in their conference this season for digs with an average of 16.35 per set.  The Raider offense will need to be ready and focused at the net to combat Louisiana's defense.  Wright State will take on Louisiana Friday evening at 6 p.m.

Chicago State

Chicago State volleyball is currently 7-4 after finishing their third weekend of competition when they took first place at the EIU Panther Invitational after beating Western Illinois, Eastern Illinois, and Alabama A&M.  Chicago State is currently in second place in the Western Athletic Conference volleyball standings, which is a big change from last year when they finished last in the WAC with a 3-26 record.  This year, however, Chicago State is second in the conference in kills, service aces, and digs.  Two junior outside hitters, Lauryn Dela Cruz and Carmen Carvajal are leading the conference in kills and are two players that the Raiders need to watch.  Dela Cruz has earned two WAC Player of the Week awards so far this season, and was also named to the All-Tournament Team at the EIU Panther Classic by averaging five kills per set in leading the Cougars to the tournament title, their first in three years and first D-I in-season title since 2004.  Her best performance in the tournament was against Eastern Illinois when she posted 24 digs and 21 kills.  Wright State will take on Chicago State, whom they hold a 6-0 record overall against, Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.  This match will be streamed online.

Next Up

The Raiders will begin conference play on the road facing IUPUI at 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 22. and Northern Kentucky at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 23.