Laura Doornbos had 16 kills to lead Illinois State to a 30-27, 22-30, 30-28, 30-15 win over DePaul, but she had to leave the game with an ankle injury in game four.
The Redbirds 6-10, trailed DePaul in team kills, 60-59 and in digs, 77-62, but had a 12-9 team block edge and used 10 service errors, four by Staci Boyce, to earn the advantage.
The Blue Demons, 7-11, were led by Mandy Moorberg, a Normal native who had 19 kills and 16 digs to lead all players in the match.
But Redbird coach Sharon Dingman thought Illinois States balance was the biggest difference. Boyce had 12 kills and hit .407 for ISU, while Emily Kabbes had 11 kills. Ashley Grubb led the Bird with 14 digs. Boyce, with 13 and six blocks, and Paige White with 10 digs, aided the Redbird defense.
We really came out and distributed the ball, said Dingman. We have many options. I have confidence in everybody to get the job done. Even after Laura went down, we knew we had the weapons to win.
DePauls Dawn Docksteder is looking for consistency from her group.
We both played really streaky. I give Illinois State some credit, said Docksteder. They lost game two but came right out in game three and got after us. Our inability to win game three with our comeback made the difference. We have a tendency to be very, very streaky.
With the Birds leading 15-7 in game four, Doornbos landed near the net pole and injured her left ankle. Doornbos condition will be reevaluated Wednesday. Preliminary reports from Redbird athletics trainer Brent Pearman indicated an ankle sprain. Freshman Maura McCarthy replaced Doornbos in the Redbird lineup and got the first set from Kelly Rikli. McCarthy put it away for a kill and the Redbirds were on their way to finishing off the Blue Demons, beating DePaul for the 22nd time in 24 meetings.
Rikli had no hesitation in calling McCarthys number.
I have total confidence in all my hitters, said Rikli. Maura stepped up and really got the job done.
DePaul had a 22-20 lead in game one before a Boyce kill, a Boyce/Rikli block and a Grubb service ace gave the Birds a 23-22 lead. The Birds put the game away thanks to Doornbos three kills and service ace accounting for four of the final seven ISU points.
Eleven Redbird hitting errors were the source of Illinois States second-game frustration. In game three, ISU had a 29-24 lead, but DePaul used two Moorberg kills to crawl back within 29-28. The longest rally of the game resulted in a Boyce tap off the block for game point.
Illinois State goes back to work in the Valley with two more road games this weekend: Friday at Southern Illinois (3-13, 0-6) and Saturday at Evansville (5-11, 1-5). After this weekend, the Redbirds play seven of their last 11 league matches at Redbird Arena.
