Megan O'Connell hammered 18 kills to help Illinois State win its eighth straight home game with a four-game win over Creighton, 30-23, 30-24, 23-30, 30-20.
The Redbirds, 10-7 overall, 7-3 in the Valley, got balanced offense behind OConnell as
Erin Jones continued her hot hitting with 16 kills while
Abby Lewis chipped in 10. Illinois State was inspired by Bradleys Friday win over Northern Iowa which put five Missouri valley teams with one, two or three losses.
It is so close in the Valley now, so our intensity was important, Lewis said. We play our best when we have fun, and thats what happened tonight.
The relentless defense of Creighton, 9-9, 8-3, out-dug the Redbirds 108-97 for the match, but surrendered a 17-9 block edge to ISU.
We out-dug them, as we expect to do, but we didnt defend them as well as we could have, said Creighton coach Howard Wallace. We didnt form the block as well as we did against Illinois State at Creighton.
Illinois State led game one 21-12 thanks to some solid defense. Creighton climbed back within 21-18, but back-to-back kills by
Jenny Kabbes helped Illinois State pull away despite a 31-26 Bluejay dig advantage.
In game two, ISU got four early kills each from Lewis, OConnell and Jones to get a 16-9 lead and maintained a five-to-seven point lead. With ISU ahead 24-17, Melissa Walsh drilled a slide set to start the Jays on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to one. But Jones, who had seven kills in game two, slammed two straight kills to help the Birds pull away and finish with a 6-1 run.
Back-to-back Redbird hitting errors started Creighton off fast in game three and Erin Swansons four early kills put the Jays ahead 14-4. The Birds didnt quit, and cut the lead to 27-23 on a block by Lewis and Kabbes. A Swanson kill and a Walsh service ace got CU back in control.
Creighton led game four 8-4 before a CU hitting error put Jones at the service line. OConnell hammered three straight kills from the left side, and then
Becky Weber ended a long rally with a power tip to tie the score at 8-8. Jones served a 7-0 Redbird run and ISU took an 11-8 lead. Six straight service points from Kabbes and a kill by
Staci Boyce sealed game four and the match, 30-20.
This is probably one of the best matches weve played all year, head coach
Sharon Dingman said. You cant beat Creighton without everyone playing well. We blocked very well and were really serving the ball well which is helping our blocking. We played very hard tonight to beat that team.
The Redbirds play a non-conference match at Northern Illinois Tuesday before going back on the road for league matches Friday at Southern Illinois and Saturday at Evansville.
