Passing starts every offensive opportunity in volleyball and Illinois State never got its passing--or its offense--in gear as Sacramento State pounded the 'Birds 30-19, 30-28, 30-23 in the second round of the Powerade Panther Invitational at the Klotsche Center.
Laura Doornbos led the 'Birds with 12 kills and a .367 hitting percentage and Paige White had 15 digs, but that wasn't enough to prevent Illinois State from losing its first three-game match of the season.
The Hornets, 5-4, not only registered their fifth win of the season, but rewarded veteran coach Debby Colberg with her 700th career win, all in her 28 years at SSU. She is the seventh college coach to reach 700 career wins.
Redbird coach Sharon Dingman didn't mince words describing her team's performance.
"We didn't compete," said Dingman. "When you can't pass well enough to produce a three-option set, you aren't competing. You can't do that against a team like Sacramento State. They're too good."
ISU, 4-5, got off to a slow start in game one. Six hitting errors, two service errors and three serve reception errors accounted for 11 points as SSU raced to a 19-8 lead. The Redbirds passed so poorly at the start that middle blockers Emily Kabbes and Staci Boyce totalled just five swings in that period. Doornbos had 6 kills in 10 attempts without an error, but that didn't begin to address ISU's problems.
The loss put on hold ISU's 800th all-time win. The 'Birds got No. 799 in the 31-year history of the program on Friday night.
SSU rebounded from a 4-3 deficit in game two with an 8-1 run to take an 11-5 lead. ISU never got closer than four points until Maura McCarthy's three kills sparked an 8-2 spurt to slice the lead from 23-16 to 25-24, but the Hornets held on, dealing the Redbirds their eighth two-point game loss in nine matches this season.
Game three began just as ragged ... three service aces, three overpasses and two hitting errors helped put the 'Birds behind 10-2. The deficit grew to 15-3 before the 'Birds rallied, getting within four points three times, but never closer.
The passing deficiency showed up in the game stats. Kabbes and Boyce each had seven kills, but they hit a combined .138. In Friday's win over host Wisconsin-Milwaukee. They hit a combined .480 with 28 kills.
Later Saturday, the 'Birds were slated to meet Eastern Illinois, 3-6, in the final match of the tournament.
