Emily Kabbes had 15 kills, 4 service aces and 4 blocks to go with setter Kelly Riklis 41 set assists, 12 digs and 5 kills to help Illinois State stay undefeated in the Barker GMC Classic with a 31-33, 30-23, 30-21, 30-22 win over Marshall. Earlier in the day, Alabama set-up a championship match with the Redbirds in the tournament finale at 7 p.m. Saturday by beating Florida State in three games.
Kabbes, a freshman playing her second match, paced all players with 21 points. Rikli set a balanced attack which featured four players in double figures in kills as Staci Boyce had 12, Erin Jones added 11 and Jenny Kabbes had 10 for ISU.
The Rikli-Emily Kabbes connection is becoming a key for Illinois State.
Kelly and I connected better today, said Kabbes, whose team hit just .154 in the first game, but finished at .217 for the match. We came out kind of slow, but we picked up our intensity (after a game-one loss).
Riklis kills came as a result of the Marshall defense chasing Kabbes.
They were going with Emily and my teammates were telling me, my coaches were telling me and Emily was telling me (to tip the ball), said Rikli. I dont blame the defense. Im not 6-foot-4. They have to look for Emily and that opened things up for me.
Actually, Emily Kabbes is listed at 6-foot-2, but that didnt stop her from leading the Redbird serving with four aces. Illinois State had 13 aces as a team against just 10 errors.
We always want to serve tough, said Kabbes. It keeps the other team out of its offense. Everybody was serving well today. Six different Redbird players had at least one ace.
Redbird coach Sharon Dingman applauded the improving Kabbes-Rikli connectiona freshman and a first-year starting setter.
Emily had a lot of shots going for her today and Kelly was getting the ball right where our hitters needed it, said Dingman. That middle connection is timing and takes time for the setter and hitter to learn to connect. But its coming along.
After late errors hurt the Birds in game one, Illinois State used three kills by Erin Jones and two by Staci Boyce on an 8-2 mid-game run to take a 26-18 lead in winning game two. Boyce had 5 kills in game three as the Redbirds put on a 9-2 sprint from a 21-19 lead to finish the game.
First-year Marshall coach Mitch Jacobs thinks his team just needs more time to become more confident in a new system. He saluted senior Heidi Kuethes intensity as the example he wants his players to follow.
Illinois State played as a unit from the start, said Jacobs, whose team fell to 0-2 ahead of a 5 p.m. match with Florida State. Its a new system for our players and we need to get used to playing it. Heidis the example of what we want in terms of playing hard for 30 points.
Its only the sixth time in 20 years the Redbirds have opened a season 2-0. In all of the other five years (1982, 1983, 1984, 1989 and 1992), Illinois State finished the season with an NCAA Tournament bid.
Jennifer Bibber had eight of her match-high 19 kills in game 3 as Alabama went to 2-0 in the tournament with a 30-26, 27-30, 30-19, 30-28 win over Florida State. The Seminoles, 0-2, got 12 kills from Kristin Frye but were out-hit .308 to .243.
The Tide and Redbirds play the final match of the day for the title.
