West Central Reporter

Western Illinois University's women's volleyball team is set to compete in three matches at the Chaifetz Pavilion in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 5 and 6. The Leathernecks will face Murray State, Austin Peay, and Saint Louis during the event.

Last weekend, the Leathernecks participated in the CEFCU Tournament hosted by Bradley University but were unable to secure a win in any of their three matches. In their opening match against Quinnipiac, Keyana Cruse led with fifteen kills. The team then played UT Arlington and Bradley on Saturday, falling in four sets and three sets respectively.

Senior outside hitter Keyana Cruse is approaching two career milestones with Western Illinois University. She is currently 41 kills away from reaching 1,000 kills and needs 134 more digs to achieve 1,000 digs.

The squad has added eight new players for the 2025 season. Among them are transfers Kiyah Franklin from Youngstown State and Alysia Perez from the University of Illinois-Chicago. Six freshmen have also joined from various states: Ashlee Markert and Martyna Sowiak from Illinois; Jaleah Bauss from Texas; Aubrey Pender from Arkansas; Caroline Clayton from Kansas; and Ella Haines from Wisconsin.

Cruse leads a group of nine returning players this season. Last year she topped the team in points (590), kills (519), sets played (114), matches started (30), as well as leading all returners in digs (463) and blocks (72). Elizabeth Ziegler returns after posting a career-high 260 kills last season while appearing in all matches.

In preseason Ohio Valley Conference polls, Western Illinois was projected to finish sixth—their highest preseason ranking since joining the conference. SEMO was picked as the favorite with Lindenwood and Tennessee Tech also receiving first-place votes.

Both Keyana Cruse and junior Kennedy Adair received All-OVC Preseason Honors. Cruse was named to the All-OVC Preseason Team while Adair was listed as a player to watch for WIU.

Murray State is predicted to finish tenth in the Missouri Valley Conference after ending last season with a 14-13 record overall and going .500 in conference play. Their roster features Ella Vogel, who ranked second in MVC kills last year with 431.

Austin Peay concluded its previous campaign at 2-26 overall and finished twelfth in the Atlantic Sun Conference standings.

Saint Louis ended last season at 11-20 overall with an eighth-place finish in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Bilikens are ranked sixth in this year's A10 preseason poll.

Fans can follow updates about Leatherneck Volleyball at GoLeathernecks.com or on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook.