On Aug. 28-29, 2026, Wright State hosted the Raider Invitational in the Nutter Center. The invitation invited Santa Clara University, Eastern Illinois University and Marquette University to Dayton, Ohio to play against each other’s women’s volleyball teams.
On Friday, Aug. 28, WSU matched against Santa Clara University. Then, on Saturday, Aug. 29, WSU had to face Eastern Illinois University in an early matchup, then Marquette University in a later matchup.
Last season, the WSU Raiders finished the regular season with the number two seed in the Horizon League. They had a record of 19-10 going into the Horizon League Tournament. They beat the third seed Youngstown State University, which was then followed by beating the first seed Northern Kentucky University to win the Horizon League Tournament. This allowed the raiders a bid into the NCAA national championship tournament. WSU played against Purdue and lost in the first round. The Raiders were placed first in the preseason poll for the Horizon League
Last season, the Eastern Illinois Panthers finished the regular season with the number one seed in the Ohio Valley Conference. They had a record of 21-7 going into the Ohio Valley Conference tournament. They beat the eight seeded Lindenwood, followed by the four seed Southeast Missouri.
The Ohio Valley Conference final was between the one seed Eastern Illinois and the two seed Morehead State. The Panthers pulled away with the Ohio Valley Conference title. They faced Wisconsin in the NCAA national championship tournament and the Wisconsin Badgers took that match. The Panthers placed fourth in the preseason poll for the Ohio Valley Conference.
So far in the Raider invitational, both the Raiders and the Panthers have faced off against the Santa Clara Broncos. Eastern Illinois took on the Broncos first and the Panthers won that game by a score of 3-2. WSU took on the Broncos and won 3-2.
The first set was very close. Both teams reached 24 points and one of the teams had to score 2 more points than the other team to win the set. The raiders took 2 straight points to win the first set 26-24.
The second set was another very close one. The raiders were up 24-23 in the set before clinching the set with a kill by Abigail Knight.
The third set was a much quicker set as the raiders won 25-10.
Outside hitter, Katie Sowko, led the Raiders with 14 killers on the match. Setter Lauren Yacobucci led the team in assists with 35.
The Raiders and Panthers had quick turnaround after this match as Eastern Illinois went on to face the University of Dayton and WSU went on to face Marquette University on the same day.
