Jackie Utz tallied 20 kills to lead four Redbirds with double-digits kills as Illinois State cruised to its third-straight victory in Missouri Valley Conference play with a 15-3, 15-8, 12-15, 15-11 victory over Indiana State in Terre Haute on Saturday.
Illinois State (7-4, 4-1) improved to 30-2 all-time against Indiana State (5-9, 1-4) and has now claimed the last six meetings between the two schools.
"This was our best team effort of the season," Illinois State head coach Sharon Dingman said. "Everyone stepped up at some point of the match and contributed and that's going to be huge for us down the road."
The 'Birds dominated the action in game one with setter Becky Weber orchestrating a devastating offensive attack which saw Redbird hitters finding holes in the Sycamore blocks time and again. The scrambling Redbird defense did its part as well, tallying 17 digs and frustrating the Sycamore hitters as Illinois State rolled to a 15-3 victory in the opening game.
Megan O'Connell, Jackie Utz and Kendra Haselhorst hit through and around the Sycamore blocks once again as the Redbirds raced to an 8-2 advantage to start game two. The Sycamore hitters responded and rattled off a 6-2 run of their own to pull Indiana State within 10-8. That's as close as Indiana State would come to the lead as the Redbirds scored the next five points to grab a 15-8 victory in game two.
The Sycamores came out aggressively to start game three and grabbed an early 7-6 lead as the Redbird offense struggled against an improved Indiana State blocking front. Indiana State extended the lead to 9-7 before Illinois State rolled off five of the game's next six points to grab a 12-9 lead. Momentum swung the Sycamores way once again as they scored the next six points to close out game three, 15-12.
A quick talk between games from Dingman got the 'Birds back on track as they raced out t a 5-1 lead to start game four. Not to be outdone, Indiana State responded with a 6-0 run coming out of a timeout to grab a 7-5 lead. The Sycamores extended their lead to 10-7 before the 'Birds closed out the game and match with a 10-1 run.
Utz led the Redbirds with a season-high 20 kills while Weber added a season-high 64 set assists. O'Connell (15), Stephenson (12) and Staci Boyce (8), the recipients of Weber's assists, all set new career-highs for kills as the Redbirds out-hit the Sycamores .299 to .179 for the match.
Despite the scare in the final two games, Dingman was pleased with her 'Birds.
"I was really happy with the way Staci Boyce played in her first started assignment and both Megans played to fire up the team," Dingman said. It was also great to see Erin Jones come off the bench and give us a spark the way she did tonight."
The 'Birds return to action on Friday, October 6 at SW Missouri State followed by another road match at Wichita State on Saturday. After next weekend's action, ISU plays four in a row and nine of its final 14 regular-season matches in Redbird Arena.
