Illinois State freshman Savannah Knowles had a career-high 18 digs and a team best 11 kills, but it wasn't enough to prevent hard-hitting No. 23 Southwest Missouri State from topping the 'Birds 30-21, 30-22, 30-20 in the semi-finals of the 2003 State Farm-Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
Linette White and Katie Werges led SMS with 13 kills each and Erin Murphy had 17 digs. The Bears, 27-4, take on No. 16 Northern Iowa in the title match at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Paige White continued her strong November digging for ISU with 15. Staci Boyce, playing her final match for ISU, had 6 kills and hit a team-best .294.
The Bears block took control of game one early. Illinois State had five hitting errors to help SMS take a 14-7 lead which ISU couldn't slice thinner than six the rest of the way. ISU trailed 15-11 at the mid-point of game two before an Emily Kabbes kill started a 5-1 run to tie the score at 16 apiece. But the Bears went right to work, collecting three kills and a block to take a 20-16 lead.
SMS mounted a 12-6 lead in game three, but the 'Birds creeped back with four straight points led by a kill and an ace by Laura Doornbos. But SMS showed why it's one of the top teams in the nation, pulling away behind strong blocking and digging. The Bears had an 11-5 block edge and a 61-54 dig advantage.
Redbird coach Sharon Dingman appreciated SMS's experience. The top four SMS players --White, Murphy, setter Chenille Bayless and libero Leah Johnson -- are seniors.
"They have four seniors; we have one (Boyce)," said Dingman. "They are more experienced and, tonight, they played better defense and had better ball control. They've done that all season."
Dingman, whose team began the season 5-10 and 0-5 in the Valley, but stormed back to win 14 of its last 18, including eight in a row before Friday's loss.
"I'm still proud of this team," said Dingman. "We had a tough start, but had the courage to fight back. I'd loved to have seen us get to the championship match, but I've coached 18 years and I don't think I've ever seen a team grow and develop as much as this one has over one season."
Earlier in the day, Illinois State advanced to the semi-finals for the 21st time in 22 conference tournaments as Doornbos hammered 20 kills in a 30-10, 30-26, 30-22 rout of Indiana State. The Redbirds won their eighth straight match, the longest Illinois State winning streak since the 1998 team won nine in a row in September of that year.
