Staci Boyce hammered seven of her match-high 14 kills in the final game as Illinois State downed Drake 30-22, 30-14, 30-16 in a Missouri Valley Conference volleyball match Friday at Redbird Arena. It was the fifth straight Redbird win in a streak which began 10 days earlier.
The Redbirds, 10-10, 3-5 in the Valley, played the match without either of their top two hitters. Laura Doornbos has been sidelined for the past four matches because of an ankle injury and Emily Kabbes was ill with strep throat. Freshman Maura McCarthy has been filling in for Doornbos and junior Amber Rogers substituted for Kabbes. McCarthy had four kills and four digs, while Rogers had a team-high four blocks.
Boyce thought her team was more focused because of the missing starters.
I think it says a lot about our team that we were able to play better with those two out, said Boyce.
Redbird setter Kelly Rikli had six kills in 14 attempts without an error.
If the blockers arent there, Im going to give it a shot, said Rikli.
The whole team has played really well, said ISU head coach Sharon Dingman. I think since Laura got hurt, this team has understood what needed to be done and has carried it through four more matches since. I give a lot of credit to Kelly and Staci.. They have taken this team and said no matter who is on the floor, this team is going to win.
Drake had 20 more attack attempts than Illinois State, but was out-hit .337 to .061. ISU had 10 service aces by seven different players. ISU had eight blocks to just one by Drake.
Weve got to score points with serving and blocking and we did that tonight, said Dingman. Our serving leads to good blocking and leads to good digging.
Drake, 8-12, 1-7 in the Valley, dropped its 17th straight match to Illinois State, which has won 37 of 42 meetings with the Bulldogs. DU has lost eight straight matches since opening the Valley season with a win over Southern Illinois. Kristin Lickiss and Stacy Boerema had 10 kills each.
The Redbirds try to match their longest winning streak in four years when they meet Creighton at 7 p.m. Saturday at Redbird Arena. Dingman, 249-162 in her 13th season as a head college coach, goes for her 250th career coaching victory against the Bluejays.
