Senior Jenny Kabbes and junior Staci Boyce combined for 21 kills to lead Illinois State to a 30-21, 30-22, 30-26 win over Evansville Saturday in a Missouri Valley Conference volleyball match at Redbird Arena.
Illinois State, 10-8 overall, 7-4 in the Valley, posted its sixth straight victory this season and ran its all-time record vs. Evansville to 18-0. The six-match winning streak is Illinois States longest since the Birds won seven in a row during the 1999 season.
The Birds have won 13 straight games dating back through their last five matches.
Kabbes finished with 11 kills while Boyce added 10 to pace the Redbird attack. Erin Jones added 12 digs and nine kills. Setter Kelly Rikli continued setting a strong, balanced offense which netted her 30 set assists and five kills of her own.
The Aces, 3-21, 0-11 in the Valley, were paced by freshman Lacy Haller with 12 kills.
A 6-0 run to pull away from an 8-7 lead plus five service aces by four different Redbird players helped Illinois State take command in game one. The Birds hit .400 as a team with just one hitting error in game one, while UE hit .316. The hitting percentages settled down in game two, with ISU hitting .225 and UE .105, but Jones had five kills and five digs to help the Birds stay in control of the match.
Laura Doornbos served the Redbirds first six points with three kills from Staci Boyce. But, Evansville scrambled back in the contest with six team blocks and four service aces by Brooke Krodel to lead 26-24. Lindley McDavid had a solo block and killed an overpass to help ISU score three in a row to lead 27-26. McDavid chipped in another block and the games final kill to seal the Redbirds win.
McDavid finished with six kills in eight attempts and drew praise form coach Sharon Dingman after the match.
We needed people off our bench to contribute, said Dingman, who used all 12 of her players in the match. Lindley gave us exactly what we needed to make a difference at the end.
Aces coach Mark Hardaway liked the way his team battled back in game three and the team consistent defense most of the night. The Aces out-blocked ISU 13-6.
We pride ourselves on our blocking and that helped our overall defense, said Hardaway. This (Redbird Arena) is a great place to play and Ive always said players give a little more effort here. The effort we gave considering the number of losses we have was good tonight.
Illinois State goes on the road next weekend, playing at Valley co-leader Southwest Missouri State on Friday before moving on to Wichita State on Saturday.
