Freshman Laura Doornbos had a team-high 11 kills in her first collegiate match, overcoming some jitters while helping Illinois State beat Florida State 30-27, 32-30, 30-24 in the first round of the Barker GMC Classic at Redbird Arena.
Doornbos' first trip into Redbird Arena, where 1,936 fans were waiting, was a little chilling.
"I have one word for that: 'goosebumps,'" said Doornbos, who got help from junior Staci Boyce with 10 kills and senior Erin Jones' 11 digs as the Redbirds won just their second season-opener in seven years.
Earlier in the evening, Alabama recovered after losing game one to beat Marshall 25-30, 30-22, 30-21, 30-25. The Tide pulled away from a 15-15 tie in game three to take control of the match behind 16 kills each by Erin Price and Erin Heffner. It was the season-opening match for all four teams.
The Redbirds out-hit the Seminoles .288 to .195 for the match, thanks to Boyce's .409 hitting from the outside and senior Jenny Kabbes' .462 hitting with seven kills in the middle. Setter Kelli Rikli kept the offense balanced--her three outside hitters all had 22 attempts, while Kabbes and her sister, Emily, the other Redbird middle, had 13 and 14 swings, respectively.
The offense impressed Rebird coach Sharon Dingman and Jenny Kabbes.
"About half-way through game one, Kelli settled down and did a great job running our offense," said Dingman, whose team will face four nationally-ranked teams in its first eight matches. "It's going to be tough for teams if we can keep distributing like we did tonight. Any win right now will give us confidence."
"It's nice knowing we don't have to rely on one person," said Jenny Kabbes, ISU's top returning offensive player. "Any one of us can come up and get a big kill."
A key point in the match for Illinois State came with a 10-9 lead in game three. Rikli tipped for a point, then Jones served an ace. Doornbos put-away a slide-step kill, followed by a Boyce-Emily Kabbes double block. A Boyce kill made it 15-9. FSU responded with three points of its own, but then Doornbos started a 7-0 Redbird run to put ISU up 22-12.
Game two was pivotal and both teams had a chance to take command late. FSU led 22-19 when Emily Kabbes and Doornbos started a 6-0 run with a block for point. Trailing 25-22, the Seminoles rallied with five straight points of their own to lead 27-25. Jenny Kabbes halted that with a kill and ISU went on to lead 28-27. Two Redbird errors, though, put FSU at game point 29-28. But Boyce skimmed a kill off an FSU back-row player, then Jones and Kabbes blocked for another point and ISU held on to win 32-30.
In the first match, Marshall benefitted from 25 'Bama service errors and 30 Tide hitting errors, but couldn't withstand late Alabama runs in the final three games. Heidi Kuethe and Grace Jones led the Thundering Herd with 7 kills each.
The teams get going again early on Satuday. Alabama and Florida State meet at 10 a.m. and Illinois State meets Marshall at noon. The Seminoles and MU play at 5 p.m. before ISU and 'Bama finish the tournament at 7 p.m.
