West Central Reporter

Western Illinois University's women's volleyball team is set to compete in the Evansville Tournament from September 12-13 at the Meeks Family Fieldhouse in Evansville, Indiana. The Leathernecks will face teams from Morehead, Evansville, and UAB during the event.

Last weekend, the Leathernecks participated in the SLU Tournament hosted by Saint Louis University. The team recorded a win against Austin Peay but fell to both Saint Louis and Murray State. In their match against Murray State, Keyana Cruse led Western Illinois with fifteen kills. On Saturday afternoon, the Leathernecks lost to Saint Louis in four sets.

Keyana Cruse and Jaleah Bauss were named to the All-Tournament team following their performances last weekend. "Graduate outside hitter Keyana Cruse led the team with 44 kills and 44 digs on the weekend. Freshman setter Jaleah Bauss led the team with 54 assists and 12 service aces."

Grace Kremer was recognized as co-defensive Player of the Week after recording 15 blocks at the St Louis Billikens invitational. "She becomes the first Leatherneck this year to earn a weekly honor from the OVC."

Cruse also reached a significant career milestone at last weekend's Billiken Invitational by surpassing 1,000 career kills for Western Illinois. She now needs just 90 more digs to reach 1,000 digs in her WIU career.

The Leathernecks have added eight new players for the 2025 season. Kiyah Franklin joins as a transfer from Youngstown State, where she played in 62 matches over four years and tallied more than 300 kills and over 75 blocks. Alysia Perez has transferred from University of Illinois-Chicago after her freshman year. Six freshmen are also joining: Ashlee Markert and Martyna Sowiak from Illinois; Jaleah Bauss from Texas; Aubrey Pender from Arkansas; Caroline Clayton from Kansas; and Ella Haines from Wisconsin.

Senior Keyana Cruse leads nine returning players for Western Illinois this season. Last year, she topped several statistical categories including points (590), kills (519), sets played (114), matches started (30), digs among returners (463), and blocks among returners (72). Elizabeth Ziegler also returns after playing all matches last season and posting a career-high of 260 kills.

In preseason Ohio Valley Conference polls, Western Illinois was predicted to finish sixth—their highest projection since joining the conference. Last year's regular season champion SEMO is ranked first in this year's poll with most first-place votes.