RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky’s volleyball team will open a five-match home stand on Friday when Southeast Missouri State visits McBrayer Arena for a 7 p.m. match. EKU senior Brittany Nobilio is climbing the NCAA’s top-10 list for career digs. Currently sitting sixth, Nobilio will have an opportunity to move into the top-5 this weekend.

Eastern Kentucky, 2-3 in its last five matches, enters weekend action with a 3-20 overall record and a 2-11 Ohio Valley Conference mark. Southeast Missouri is riding a seven-match winning streak. The Redhawks (15-10, 10-4 OVC) are tied for third in the OVC standings, just one game behind first place Jacksonville State.

The last time the Colonels faced a team as high in the standings as SEMO they overcame a 2-0 deficit to knock off Tennessee State, 3-2. EKU trailed two games to none and 28-27 in the third game before staging a comeback. The Colonels won the final three points of game three, held off the Lady Tigers in game four and the jumped out in front 9-3 to take control of the fifth game. TSU entered the match in a three-way tie for first atop the conference standings.

Nobilio has recorded 20 or more digs in five of her last six matches. She’ll enter Friday’s match 33 digs away from taking over fifth place on the NCAA career digs list. She has 2,311 digs during her career. Nobilio ranks first in the OVC and 13th in the NCAA with an average of 5.97 digs per game.

Junior Amanda Wilson leads the Colonels’ offensive attack. She has a team-best 284 kills and ranks eighth in the conference with an average of 3.55 kills per game. She also leads the squad with 60 blocks. Freshmen Leah Nelson and Amanda Fago are also key components of the offense. Nelson is second on the team with 213 kills. Fago has 197 kills and 23 aces. Freshman Kate Hendle leads the Colonels with 604 assists.

Southeast Missouri is led by the play of Aubrey Dondlinger and Karleigh DeLong. Both players have over 300 kills and 21 service aces this season. Brenna Schlader leads the Redhawks with 84 blocks. Sarah Barth has 848 assists.

After facing Southeast Missouri on Friday, Eastern will play Eastern Illinois on Saturday at 2 p.m., at McBrayer Arena.

EIU enters the weekend with an 11-12 record and a 4-10 OVC mark. The Panthers will play at Morehead State on Friday.

Sisters Eliza and Alex Zwettler lead the Panthers. Eliza has a team-best 377 kills and is second on the team with 317 digs. Alex has 278 kills and 227 digs. Lauren Sopcic has 206 kills and the second best attack percentage in the OVC at .337. Maren Crabtree has 1,074 assists this season.