The Illinois Springfield volleyball team returns to GLVC play this weekend after a strong showing at the Midwest Regional Crossover Tournament. The Prairie Stars will face Southwest Baptist on Friday, Oct. 24 at 6:00 p.m. in Bolivar, Mo., before heading to Springfield, Mo., to take on Drury on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 3:00 p.m. Both matches will stream live on GLVCSN, with live stats available online.

Illinois Springfield (9-10, 1-5 GLVC)
UIS entered the Midwest Regional Crossover as the No. 10 GLVC seed and went 2-1 against similarly ranked teams from the region's other conferences, defeating Lake Superior State and Kentucky Wesleyan, but falling to Tiffin. It was a productive weekend overall, highlighted by Makenna Cox's GLVC Offensive Player of the Week honor, marking the first for a UIS volleyball player since 2021. Cox was also named to the All-Tournament Team for her standout performance.

At the net, Lexie Vick tallied 12 total blocks at the Crossover, including six assisted blocks against Tiffin. Erica Sledge distributed 42 assists against LSSU, while Cox hit an impressive .448 against Kentucky Wesleyan.

The Prairie Stars continue to lead the GLVC in service aces per set (2.04), totaling 137 on the season. Cox leads UIS with 37 aces, followed by Tuana Yuce with 25.

UIS has seven GLVC matches remaining in the regular season, beginning with this weekend's contests at SBU and Drury. The Prairie Stars lead the all-time series against SBU 5-2 and trail Drury 14-5.

Southwest Baptist (8-12, 1-4 GLVC)
Southwest Baptist enters the weekend on its best streak of the season, going 3-0 at the Midwest Regional Crossover with wins over Lake Erie, Kentucky Wesleyan, and Lake Superior State. The Bearcats are 1-4 in GLVC play, with their lone conference win coming on the road at William Jewell.

Blocking has been a key strength for SBU this season—they currently rank third in the GLVC with 2.3 blocks per set. Rory Stanley led the way last weekend with eight assisted blocks and one solo. Katie Pogue paces the offense with 343 assists (4.83 per set), while Gabriela Dupree leads the team with 269 kills (3.79 per set) and also contributes defensively with 2.54 digs per set. Chloe Chaffins anchors the back row with 264 digs (3.77 per set).

Drury (12-7, 3-2 GLVC)
Drury went 2-1 at the Crossover, earning wins over Thomas More and Northwood while narrowly falling to Purdue Northwest in five sets. The Panthers face a busy stretch this week with matches against Missouri Southern and Quincy before hosting UIS on Saturday afternoon.

In GLVC play, Drury has defeated McKendree, William Jewell, and Southwest Baptist. The Panthers rank near the top of the league in fewest opponent kills allowed, while UIS sits second in that same category. Offensively, both teams find themselves in the middle of the conference standings.

Setter Lauren Tyler is among the GLVC's top ten in both assists and service aces, guiding a balanced attack led by Ella Rademaker (210 kills, 3.00 per set) and Mailie Chretien (182 kills, 2.76 per set).