Stephanie Bishop had 16 kills and 15 digs to lead DePaul to a 30-27, 30-26, 30-26 victory over Illinois State in non-conference volleyball Tuesday at the DePaul Athletic Center.
DePaul, 14-4, snappped a three-game losing streak after a 13-1 start this season with some overpowering offensive play, netting a 60-39 edge in kills fro the match. The Demons are among the nation's best offensive teams, averaging more than 17 kills per game around setter Kara Jackusz, who had 53 set assists against the 'Birds.
Early in the first two agmes of the match, the Redbirds were able to serve well and keep the Demons off balance with Jenny Kabbes, who had 13 kills, and Becky Weber's trick shots (Weber had 6 kills in the first two games). ISU out-blocked DePaul 10-2 for the match, with Kabbes collecting four of those.
But the Demon offense responded when it needed to.
"DePaul played as well as we thought they could plya, said ISU coach Sharon Dingman. "Sure, their setter played well, but Becky played just as well and made the right decisions. We didn't get the kills from our hitters they got from their hitters."
Bishop had 10 of her digs in the first two games, moving into first place on the all-time career Conference USA dig list. She has 1,608 total.
ISU led by as many as 16-9 in game one, but Engel's nine kills got the Demons rolling on a 12-4 run to take a 28-24 lead. The 'Birds led 21-15 in game two, but DU roared back again, this time with Bishop collecting 10 kills for the game.
Dingman thought DePaul stepped up when it needed to.
"DePaul just played harder when they knew they had to because we were ahead," said Dingman. "they just decided they wanted to win when it was time to win. Hopefully, we learned some things from this match tonight."
The Redbirds return to league play at home against Drake on Friday and Creighton on Saturday. Both are 7 p.m. matches in Redbird Arena.
