After collecting 17 kills in last nights victory over Creighton, senior Kendra Haselhorst pounded 17 kills and served three aces as the Illinois State Redbirds defeated Drake 15-12, 15-5, 15-10 at Redbird Arena.
The Redbirds, 10-6 overall, 7-2 in the Valley, registered their seventh straight win over Drake and 29th in 34 meetings in the series. The Bulldogs fell to 3-16, 2-7 while losing their eighth match in their last nine starts.
Illinois State took advantage of 12 Drake hitting errors in game one. Staci Boyces four-point service stand took the Birds from down 6-5 to ahead 9-6, and Drake never caught up.
B Corbin started game two with six straight service points, three on Haselhorst kills. Corbin served eight of ISUs 15 points in the second game. Erin Jones came off the Redbird bench for five kills and four digs in game two. Haselhorst had seven kills as ISU hit .395 for the game opposed to only .159 for the Bulldogs..
When youre leading the first two games in kills and digs and are still losing, you know something is wrong, said Drake coach Ray Hansen. We dug the ball well, but I expected more even though both teams had long matches last night.
In game three, the Birds jumped to a 7-0 lead, but Drake began to fight back. Key kills by Jones, Haselhorst and Megan Stephenson brought the Birds to game point. After a Drake sideout, Haselhorst served her third and final ace to seal Redbird victory.
It was really important for us to go out and stay focused and win in three games, Haselhorst said. Last night was emotionally and physically draining so we needed to win in three tonight.
This team needed to prove to themselves that they could come out and win in three and play well, head coach Sharon Dingman said. To have your senior (Haslehorst) come out and play the same level when other players are fatigued is great for younger players to see.
Defensively, Lewis let the team with 10 digs and Megan OConnell added 10 kills for ISU while Becky Weber added 35 assists in front of 2,126 fans at Redbird Arena.
Abbys a big part of maintaining our composure. Shes in there for defense and blocking...anything else is a plus, Dingman added. She improves everyones defense and it sparked everyone tonight.
The victory was No. 199 in Sharon Dingmans 10-year coaching career. She goes for No. 200 when Northern Illinois visits Redbird Arena Tuesday night at 7p.m. to end a four-game homestand for the Redbirds.
