Freshmen Laura Doornbos and Emily Kabbes both hit over .400, and Illinois State won every major statistical category, but Southern Illinois showed resilience behind Kristi Kemner's 15 kills and 13 digs to beat Illinois State 15-30, 31-29, 30-26, 30-24 in the first round of the State Farm-Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
The Redbirds had leads of eight points in game two, six late in game three and 10-5 early in game four, but the Salukis, 22-9, rallied every time to beat Illinois State for the first time since 1990. The Redbirds, 14-13, had beaten the Salukis 25 straight times, a streak coinciding with the tenure of 2002 Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year Sonya Locke.
Illinois State led the stat sheet in kills 66-50 with Jenny Kabbes and Erin Jones each collecting 14 to match Doornbos' total, and Emily Kabbes follwing with 13. ISU also had a 57-56 dig edge led by Jones' 15 and a 15-10 block edge behind Jenny Kabbes' nine and Kelly Rikli's seven. The Redbirds also had a .207 to .146 hitting percentage edge.
But Redbird coach Sharon Dingman said it boiled down to execution at key times.
"We were in position to swing for game point in game two, but weren't able to execute," said Dingman. "We had some uncharacteristic hitting errors. A lot of it was what Southern did. They had a game plan and executed it."
From a 16-12 lead, the Redbirds went on a 14-3 tear to finish game one. Six blocks--four by Emily Kabbes--and a balanced hitting attack producing a .382 to negative-.086 edge at the net. ISU's early passing and digging went well despite being without senior defensive specialist Lacy McFarland, whose Redbird career is over because of a shoulder injury.
Doornbos served two aces and seven points in a row as the 'Birds went on an 8-0 run early in game two and led by as many as 14-6, but Southern Illinois scrambled back to a 25-25 tie. The teams traded points until Lindsay Schultz and Kristi Kemner put back-to-back kills together to put the Salukis at game point. Ten Redbird hitting errors in game two added to the Redbird woes.
Game three was more of what was expected of two teams which finished one match apart in the regular-season standings. Eight ties and six lead changes produced a 16-16 ISU lead before a pair of Emily Kabbes kills sparked a 6-1 Redbird run for a 23-17 ISU lead. Southern stormed back again, though, with a 10-1 run to take command of the game and the lead in the match.
After the 'Birds led 10-5 in game four, three straight hitting errors got the Salukis jump-started on what became a 19-4 stretch to take a 24-14 lead. Doornbos and Jenny Kabbes led a Redbird rally to close to 27-22, but the teams traded points from there and Southern beat Illinois State for the first time in Valley Tournament play.
Illinois State isn't finished with its season. The Redbirds play No. 2 Florida on Friday and Georgia Tech on Saturday in the Disney Conference Challenge at Orlando, Fla.
"More chances for our young team to learn," said Dingman, who has five freshmen and three sophomores among her 11 healthy playes. "One positive today is that two of our freshmen, Emily and Laura, had one of their best matches. This team still has an opportunity to learn and improve."
