Junior setter Kelly Rikli was named State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Volleyball Player of the Week Monday for her performances in wins over Northern Iowa and Bradley last week.
The Highlands Ranch, Colo., native has been on fire during the Birds current seven-match winning streak, picking up 335 set assists, a 13.40 average per game. Against No. 12 Northern Iowa on Friday, Rikli was instrumental in the Redbirds upset victory, tallying 69 set assists, while chipping in 17 digs and six kills against the Panthers. Rikli set her team to a .277 hitting percentage in that game.
Head coach Sharon Dingman couldnt have been happier with Riklis recognition.
This was certainly one of the biggest weekends for Kelly since shes been at Illinois State, Dingman said. Its a nice honor for her to be named player of the week. She has raised her level of play and raised the level of her teams play in the last month and a half. Since Oct. 1 our record is 13-4 and Kelly has been a big part of that turnaround.
In the Birds win over Bradley on Saturday, Rikli had 35 set assists, while setting her team to a .273 hitting percentage. She also chipped in four kills and nine digs.
In addition to leading her team to a No. 4 spot in the Valley tournament, Rikli climbed the charts for all-time career set assists. Her 2,847 career set assists ranks No. 4 in school history, and her 1,498 assists this season ranks No. 3 all time. During the current seven-match winning streak, Rikli has set her team to a .302 hitting percentage, while opponents are hitting just .203.
The Birds head to Springfield, Mo., on Friday, having qualified for their 22nd straight Valley tournament, making every one of them since the tournament began in 1982. They are the only team in the conference to have qualified every year.
Illinois State (18-13, 11-7) will face No. 5 seed Indiana State (14-14, 9-9) on Friday at 12:30 p.m. The winner will face conference regular season champion Southwest Missouri State in the evening at 7:30 p.m., with the championship match being held Saturday at 3:30 p.m. All Illinois State matches will be broadcast on 1230 WJBC.
