With 24 kills, 13 blocks and 10 digs, senior Jenny Kabbes recorded her first career triple-double to lead Illinois State to a 30-27, 27-30, 30-24, 20-30, 18-16 win over Southern Illinois.
In the process, the Redbirds had to rebound from an 8-1 deficit in the 15-point fifth game. ISU finally caught the Salukis at 13-13 on a Kabbes kill, then the teams split points until, with the game tied 16-16, Kabbes hammered her final kill, then went to the service line and served match point.
In the end, Kabbes out-dualed SIU senior Kristie Kemner, who had 30 kills and 13 digs. Redbird coach Sharon Dingman thought Kabbes and Kemner gave a small but involved crowd its moneys worth.
It was the Kabbes and Kemner Show, said Dingman. They were both phenomenal. From our perspective, Jenny and Erin (Jones) gave us the leadership we needed on the court in that fifth game.
Jones, who came off the bench for 5 kills, 8 digs and 3 blocks, appreciated how Kabbes led the Birds in all areas.
Jenny was just amazing, said Jones. It wasnt just killing and blocking and digging, but her serving and her leadership on the court. I think it was a case of just refusing to lose. I think it was a good experience for this team to go five games."
Illinois State, 4-6 overall, 2-2 in the Valley, beat Southern Illinois 23rd straight time in the series. The last SIU win in the series was in 1990 at Redbird Arena. It was the first five-game match of the season for lllinois State.
Southern Illinois, now 8-5 overall, 2-2 in the Valley, had more kills 76-66, and more digs, 64-45, but trailed ISU in blocks 17.5 to 10 and service aces, 13-8. Amber Rogers and Lindley McDavid had three aces each for ISU, which got 13 kills from Ashley Grubb and 11 from Staci Boyce.
Kabbes thought it all came down to the last game.
People were in each others faces, said Kabbes. We were communcating our best on the court. Southern was motivated; they havent beaten us in a long time. We had to match that. We came back one point at a time and refused to lose. We learned, as a team, how to do that.
With the match even at 1-1, the Birds spotted SIU a 10-6 lead in game three before setter Kelly Rikli started a 9-3 Redbird run with a tip kill. McDavid kills were three of the last four points of that stretch. ISU led 18-17 when Erin Jones smashed a kill out of the middle to start a 6-0 run to give the Birds a seven-point edge and control of the game.
Game four began as a replay of game three with the Salukis scoring eight unanswered points to take a 12-6 lead. This time, SIU didnt let the Birds back in as Kemner smashed 10 kills.
Illinois State comes home to play Wichita State at 7 p.m. Friday in Redbird Arena.
