Becky Weber served the first five points of the deciding game, including her sixth ace of the game, to lead Illinois State to a five-game 33-35, 30-20, 24-30, 30-25, 15-3 win over Southern Ilinois in a Missouri Valley Conference volleyball match Saturday at Redbird Arena.
Webers service points, plus Jenny Kabbes four kills and two blocks, put the Birds ahead 12-1 in game five after the Salukis had given Illinois State all kinds of problems the first four games. Kabbes finished with 10 kills and six blocks for the match.
It just came down to pride, said Redbird hitter Erin Jones, who had 14 kills to share team honors with Abby Lewis. It was a struggled to find a place to find the floor in the first three games. I tried to place the ball a bit more.
Kristi Kemner led the Salukis, 4-8 overall, 1-5 in the Valley, with 17 kills and 22 digs. Tar Cains added 15 kills and Lisa Vodin had 16 digs.
Southern Illinois had lost 20 straight matches to the Redbirds dating back to the 1991 season and ISU had won 41 of 45 matches in the series. The crowd of 3,597 was the fifth largest in Redbird Arena volleyball history, and the fans were treated to a full night. But SIU coach Sonya Locke said the best team won at the end because of aggressiveness.
We backed off a little bit late in the match and, when youre on the road, you have to keep your composure and not let the seventh man into the game, said Locke. We let our emotions decide too much how we are going to play and we let our emotions get into that game.
Redbird coach Sharon Dingman told her team their dreams of a conference title were on the court game four.
There was a lot of pressure on our players and Southern pushed every way possible, said Dingman. In game four and five, we really picked it up with Becky serving and Kabbes blocking.
The Redbirds, 7-4, 3-1 in the Valley, hardly looked like the team which hit .400 the previous night. By the time the teams reached a 24-24 tie in game one, ISU already had 10 hitting errors--three more than in three games against Evansville on Friday.
But Staci Boyce , who had 12 kills in 16 attempts and a career-high eight blocks in the match, scored with a quick kill down the middle, a block with Weber and on an overpass and ISU led 27-24. But the Salukis didnt quit, storming back to lead for the first time, 29-28 on a Tara Cains kill from the right side. The teams traded points until Cains scored on a the fifth game-point for SIU, her sixth kill of the game.
Kabbes got the Birds untracked in game two, serving nine straight points as ISU led 13-3. ISU led by nine or better the rest of the game, with ISU scoring on of SIUs 12 hitting errors, five on Redbird blocks.
ISU let a 10-6 lead get away in game three, with SIU pulling ahead 15-14, ISU led 20-19 before the Salukis went on a 5-1 run to take a 24-21 lead in game three, a lead SIU didnt surrender. Jenny Noel, who had no kills and six errors in the first two games, had five in eight attempts without an error in game three.
The Redbirds led 17-13 in game four when four hitting errors and a service ace resulting from two ISU passers bumping into each other let SIU take an 18-17 lead. ISU responded with an 8-2 run which includeed two kills by Erin Jones and two more by Abby Lewis. The Birds hung onto that lead to win game four 30-25 and force a decisive game five.
Southerns blocking really challenged our offense until game four, said Dingman. We had to find ways to get kills.
