Laura Doornbos matched a career-high with 27 kills and Paige White had a career-high 31 digs for Illinois State, but it wasnt enough to stave off a 30-25, 25-30, 30-27, 29-31, 16-14 in a Missouri Valley Conference volleyball match in ISU Arena.
The Redbirds appeared headed for a loss in game four, trailing 26-21 before staging a furious comeback, out-scoring the Sycamores 10-3 the rest of the way, withstanding two match points to force game five. Whites ace gave the Birds an 11-10 lead in game five, but Indiana State battled back to win the next three points. Back-to-back kills by Emily Kabbes put the finale at 14-14, but a Redbird hitting error and Meghan Pollards service ace ended the match.
Illinois State, 16-7, 8-4 in the Valley, dropped their third match in Terre Haute in the last four years and just their fourth in 40 meetings to the Sycamores. Redbird coach Sharon Dingman saluted Indiana States play, but thought her team could have responded better.
We waited until we were down five points in game four and we were very complacent until that point, said Dingman. Winning isnt easy and our team has to figure that out. Everybody has reasons to win and we didnt figure that out in time.
The Sycamores, 9-11, 5-7 in the Valley, got 19 kills from Kristin Widmar and 31 digs from Kelly Spisak as they out-hit the Redbirds .228 to .203 for the match. Indiana State out-dug the Birds 106 to 102, but the Birds had a 12-11 block edge.
After the Redbirds fell behind, they got a lift from Maura McCarthy off the bench with 9 kills and 13 digs despite not coming in until the third game. Amber Rogers helped ISU turn the momentum in game two with some key play at the net.
Maura played great and Amber gave us a lift as well, but we need more consistent performances from more people, said Dingman.
The Redbirds led early in game one, but their last lead was 12-11 on a Savannah Knowles kill. Indiana State rolled-up 13 of the next 19 points as the Birds couldnt match the Sycamore tipping and digging game. Ten Redbird hitting errors were costly.
With the Birds leading 6-5 in game two, a 12-minute delay ensued because the official scorekeeper had miscopied the Indiana State lineup onto the official scoresheet. Kelly Rikli followed the delay with a tip kill. The Birds went on a 9-4 run and never trailed as Doornbos had three kills in the final nine points.
The visiting team came back from a five-point deficit to lead 20-19 on the second of back-to-back Doornbos kills, but Indiana State came back to take the lead 26-25 and take a 2-1 lead in games.
The Birds had their backs to the wall, trailing 26-21 in game four when back-to-back Kari Staehlin kills started the Redbirds on a rally. A Doornbos smash down the sideline tied it at 27-27. Indiana State scored the next two to reach match point, but two more Doornbos kills and Kabbes two points sent the match to game five.
The Redbirds return home to play league-leader Wichita State at 7 p.m. Friday and SMS at 7 p.m. Nov. 6, both at Redbird Arena.
