Megan OConnell had 14 of her team-high 21 kills in the final two games as Illinois State pulled out a victory over Marquette 31-29, 27-30, 30-22, 30-25 at Redbird Arena. This was the Redbirds first game in 10 days due to last weeks national events.
This was the perfect match for us in terms of its place in our schedule and how it prepared us for some tough games this weekend, said Illinois State head coach Sharon Dingman. I think we started the match today a little flat, but thankfully they (Marquette) started out flat as well.
Marquette, 5-3, kept the first two games close but seemed to lose momentum down the stretch in games three and four. Senior Vesna Grbavac paced the Golden Eagles with 23 kills and 19 digs, while senior Meghan Devine collected 15 kills and 8 digs.
Despite Grbavacs 10 kills and 6 more by Devine, the Redbirds out-lasted the Eagles in game one as OConnell pulled the Redbirds out of a 29-29 tie with back-to-back game-ending kills.
The Eagles led early in game two until Megan Stephenson slammed back-to-back overpasses to bring ISU to a 13-13 tie. Erin Jones put the Birds ahead with a shot down the line. Three Wendi Roesch service points gave ISU an 18-14 lead, but Marquette stormed back to tie on Grbavacs service aces, 21-21.
Megan (Stephenson) is a very antimated player and we wanted to put her on the floor to give our team some personality, said Dingman. We are at our best when we are antimated and having fun.
ISU scrambled to a 26-23 advantage before a Grbavac kill put Megan Markowski on the service line, where she served the Eagles to within game point at 29-28. After Abby Lewis kept the Birds alive with a kill, but Grbavac finished the game for Marquette.
The Redbirds, 4-3, open the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season schedule Friday at Creighton and Saturday at Drake before returning home to meet Evansville and Southern Illinois the following weekend.
