Kim Kester had 18 kills and Molly O'Brien added 14 as No. 8 Northern Iowa downed Illinois Stawet 30-21, 30-23, 30-27 in a Missouri Valley Conference volleyball match Friday, but Redbird coach Sharon Dingman thought her team made progress against one of the nation's best squads.
"We came in here wanting to contniue to get better and I think we did," said Dingman, whose team was led by Staci Boyce with 12 kills and Erin Jones with nine digs. "We let some things get away from us at times in the first two games, but we really challenged them in game three. That's why I love this volleyabll team because we continue to get better."
The third game was a hard-swinging 40-minute affair which featured players going full out. A 4-0 run fueled by Jenny Kabbes' kill and solo block put the Redbirds ahead 16-15. UNI answered with its own 4-0 spurt featuring two Kester kills. But some gerat defensive plays, including a couple of spectacular digs by Ashley Grubb, helped the Redbirds stay with UNI until a Boyce kill knotted the score at 25-25.
UNI coach Bobbi Petersen took time out at that point and a raucus crowd of 2,051 crammed into tniy West Gym was on its feet coming out of the break. The result was the Panthers out-lasting the Redbirds in three long rallies to take a 28-25 lead. Boyce and Jones came back with kills for ISU, but UNI closed out the match with kills by Michelle Burvee and Kester.
The Redbirds, 13-12 overall, 10-7 in the Valley, have one more match before next week's State Farm-Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Peoria.
"During that third game, I turned to (assistant coach) Dawn (Sullivan) and said 'I think this is the best we've played in a long time,'" said Dingman. "Northern Iowa did some great things, but I thnik we proved to ourselves that we can play with them ... and, next week on a neutral court, anything might happen."
Petersen agreed about game three.
"I thought that third game was as good a game as we've played or seen played all year," said Petersen. "We made some mistakes and gave Illinois State some openings in the first two games, but managed to overcome them. Game three, both teams went at it very hard."
The Redbirds saw their three-match win streak end, but still looks forward to taking momentum into next week's tournament in Peoria. The Redbirds are 9-4 in their last 13 matches before Saturday's 7 p.m. battle with Bradley at Robertson Field House. (Some Redbird schedules listed a different starting time).
Northern Iowa, 27-2, 16-1 in the Valley, won for the 57th straight tmie in West Gym--the longest home-court winning streak in college volleyball. Illinois State was UNI's last 'bump-in-the-driveway' at home; the 'Birds beat the Panthers in four games in 1997. UNI has jsut five losses in 162 home matches since 1990 and three of them are to Illinois State.
