NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State volleyball team took Missouri Valley Conference preseason favorite Missouri State to five sets but the Redbirds came up just short in a seesaw battle between teams playing their league openers Friday at Redbird Arena. Missouri State won by scores of 17-25, 25-13, 26-24, 14-25, 15-11.
Five Redbirds reached double figures in kills, with Lexi Wallen leading the team with 17. Jaelyn Keene and Machayla Leonard tallied 15 apiece, while Ali Line and Sydney Holt chipped in 10 and 11, respectively.
Stef Jankiewicz dished out a match-high 55 assists to go along with a career-high 21 digs. Courtney Pence led all players with 36 digs, the fourth-highest single-match total in Redbird Arena history.
Missouri State's Lily Johnson led all players with 20 kills and broke the Missouri Valley Conference career kills record in the first set of Friday's match.
"I hate losing but I love how we're playing and I really see a few key things we'll be better at as we keep working over the next two weeks," said Illinois State head coach Leah Johnson. "When that gets ironed out, it'll be advantage Redbirds."
Illinois State (7-7, 0-1 MVC) got off to a strong start by winning the first set. The Redbirds led the entire set as Keene recorded six kills on the minimum number of attempts. Missouri State (9-5, 1-0) scored four in a row late to get within five points at 21-16, but kills from Wallen, Line and Holt got the Redbirds to a set point and Illinois State won it there on a Missouri State attack error.
Missouri State never trailed in the second set as the Bears evened the match. Four runs of three-or-more points helped the Bears pull away and a kill from Lynsey Wright on set point claimed the set for Missouri State.
Back-and-forth early on, Missouri State took control of the third set with a four-point binge late, which was good for a 21-16 lead. The Redbirds mounted a late comeback, eventually tying it up at 24-24, but back-to-back kills from Missouri State's Cambree Villarreal made it a 2-1 lead for the visitors.
The Redbirds bounced back in the fourth set, using an early six-point surge to grab an 8-3 lead. Five kills in the set from Leonard helped the Redbirds maintain a comfortable lead and a kill from Wallen sent the match to a fifth set.
Five kills in the fifth set from Johnson helped lift Missouri State. A 4-1 run midway through the final set gave the Bears a 9-5 lead. Illinois State fought back to within a point at 10-9 after two kills each from Wallen and Holt, but Missouri State scored five of the last seven points, two coming on kills from Johnson. Â Â
The Redbirds are back in action Saturday night at Redbird Arena, taking on visiting Southern Illinois at 7 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets for this weekend's matches online at GoRedbirds.com/Tickets, by calling (309) 438-8000, or by visiting the ticket office, located at the north entrance to Redbird Arena.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
