Defense meets offense when Illinois State, the No. 18 digging team in the nation, plays at Northern Illinois, the nations No. 12 team in kills, renew one of the states top Division I non-conference rivalries of recent years Tuesday at Chick Evans Field House in DeKalb.
The Redbirds, 11-7, are playing well, coming off four straight league wins topped by Saturdays four-game win over Creighton. But the Huskies have been one of the nations hottest teams, carrying a nine-match winning streak and a 12-4 record.
Coach Todd Kress team has a relatively simple formula for success: setter Jenny Bowman sets a balanced offense which merely hammers opponents into submission with nearly 17 kills per game on average.
Northern has a good setter and runs a great offense, said Redbird head coach
Sharon Dingman. They are on a roll and have a lot of momentum going their way.
Defending the Huskies is vital and, fortunately, Illinois State has stepped-up its defensive work of late. Keyed by
Abby Lewis Missouri Valley Conference-leading 3.80 digs per game, the Birds average 17.87 per game to rank among the nations best.
Stacy Boyce had 22 blocks in eight games last weekend. She led a group of five Redbirds averaging one or more blocks in the wins over Drake and Creighton over the weekend.
Lewis is fighting for a unique spot in Missouri Valley Conference history. Ranked No. 1 in the league in digs and No. 9 in blocks, she is bidding to become the first player in league history to finish the season ranked in the top 10 in both digs and blocks.
According to Illinois State Dingman, the Redbirds recent blocking binge has been aided by the teams serving.
Our serving has made a huge impact on our blocking, said Dingman. When we serve very well, we see a decrease in productive sets (by opponents). That limits their offensive options and makes reading the blocking assignments easier. We are really serving well right now and we will need to continue that.
The Redbirds, who play seven of their final 10 regular-season matches on the road before hosting the 2001 State Farm-Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Nov. 23-24, get back to league play Friday at Southern Illinois and Saturday at Evansville. With the Redbirds 9-1 at home and 2-6 away from Redbird Arena, Dingman believes that the Northern Illinois match is more about playing better on the road than it is about any particular outcome.
No matter who we play or where, we have to establish that we can perform better away from home than we have so far, said Dingman. We cant be serious about finishing the season the way we want to unless we can play better on the road.
