The University of Illinois Springfield volleyball team ends its 2021 spring season this weekend with a pair of home games. The Prairie Stars host Southern Indiana on Friday at 7 p.m., followed by a contest against Indianapolis on Saturday at 3 p.m.
 
UIS enters the week with a 3-14 overall record, and it is 3-13 in GLVC play. The Prairie Stars rank 12^th in the conference's Point Rating System, which determines the seeds for the eight-team GLVC Tournament.
 
UIS will be having its Senior Day celebration on Saturday afternoon. The Prairie Stars will be honoring two players who will be graduating this semester in Brianna Bush and Kenzie Hendon.
 
Bush is one of the top players in program history, earning all-GLVC honors in both 2018 and 2019. She currently ranks third in UIS history with 327 career total blocks, is eighth with 1,111.5 career points, and is ninth with 873 career kills.
 
Hendon has played in 66 matches for the Prairie Stars as both a defensive specialist and as a hitter. She is second on the team this season in kills and digs, and ranks third in points. Her 541 career digs rank as the tenth-most during the program's NCAA era.

Please note that at this time, no fans are permitted at GLVC Volleyball events
 
UIS vs. Southern Indiana
Date/Time/Location: Friday, April 9, 7:00 p.m. – Springfield, Ill.
Streaming: https://glvcsn.com/uis/
Live Stats: https://uisprairiestars.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
All-Time Series: Southern Indiana leads 9-6 (UIS leads 4-3 in Springfield, Ill.)
 
Southern Indiana opens the week with a 12-4 overall and conference record, and it is ranked 24^th in the national poll. The Screaming Eagles are third in the GLVC Point Rating System, just ahead of Quincy and Missouri S&T.
 
Southern Indiana has one of the top defenses in the GLVC, including ranking fourth with a .148 opponent hitting percentage. It is also among league leaders with 1.73 aces per set.
 
Leah Anderson and Katherine Koch both rank in the top-10 in the league in kills. Anderson is also the current GLVC leader with 0.59 service aces per game, and ranks second with 4.22 points per set.
 
In the first week of the season, Southern Indiana defeated the Prairie Stars in Evansville, Ind. by scores of 25-22, 26-24, and 25-14. UIS was held under .100 hitting for the match, and it had 11 fewer kills than Southern Indiana. Brianna Bush was the Prairie Stars leader with eight kills and three blocks.
 
UIS is 4-3 all-time against Southern Indiana in TRAC, and has won four straight in the series on its home court.

UIS vs. Indianapolis
Date/Time/Location: Saturday, April 10, 3:00 p.m. – Springfield, Ill.
Streaming: https://glvcsn.com/uis/
Live Stats: https://uisprairiestars.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
All-Time Series: Indianapolis leads 10-1 (Indianapolis leads 5-0 in Springfield, Ill.)
 
Indianapolis is currently 7-9 on the season and 7-9 in GLVC play. The Greyhounds are 10^th in the GLVC Point Rating System, two spots away from of a conference tournament bid.
 
Indianapolis ranks third in the GLVC this season with 18.43 digs a game. It is also sixth in the league with nearly 13 kills a set.
 
Makenna Barnhart leads the team's defense with 4.83 digs a set. Offensively, Katie Furlong is in the top-10 in the GLVC with 2.96 kills a set, and Elizabeth Eads has a .311 hitting percentage. Alex Equihua is fourth in the league with 10.36 assists per set.
 
UIS opened up the season with a 3-2 loss to Indianapolis, with the Prairie Stars falling 15-13 in the deciding fifth set. Six UIS players had double-figure kills, including 15 for Kenzie Hendon. Bush had a team-high seven blocks, and Hendon and Amanda McConnell each had 14 digs.