The clich says its the only statistic that counts: winning. The NCAA Statistics Service report says Illinois State had one of the top 30 records in the nation prior to Tuesdays win. And Redbird volleyball coach Sharon Dingman, whose team plays at 7 p.m. Friday against Indiana State and at 1 p.m. Sunday against 2003 Big East Conference co-champion Pittsburgh, thinks thats all right.
Anybody would tell you that winning is the statistic you want to be nationally ranked in, said Dingman, whose Redbirds have won seven straight matches this season and 13 home matches in a row at Redbird Arena over the past calendar year.
The Redbirds, 10-2, 4-0 on top of the Missouri Valley Conference standings, were tied for 30th place in this weeks NCAA Volleyball Statistics report, which was compiled before the Redbirds 3-2 Tuesday win at Saint Louis. That report had Illinois State at 9-2, tied for No. 30 with Stanford, Illinois and three other teams.
Actually, the Birds are nationally ranked in another area which has nothing to do with how the game is played. Illinois State is No. 8 in the nation in home attendance on the heels of the 3,383 who watched the Birds beat UNI on Saturday.
Indiana State, 6-5, 2-2 in the Valley, features libero Kelly Spisak, the conferences dig leader, and setter Kerri Byrum, who leads all Valley setters in kills per game. Spisaks 5.74 digs per game is No. 10 in the nation and accounts for one-third of Indiana States team total. In her most recent match, Byrum had a rare triple-double against Bradley with 13 kills, 14 digs and 54 set assists.
Pittsburgh tied with Notre Dame for the 2003 Big East Conference title and is 9-4 heading into its 2 p.m. Saturday match with Indiana State at Redbird Arena. The Panthers will play the Birds at 1 p.m. Sunday (some schedules feature a different time) in Redbird Arena.
Pittsburgh is a strong program from a good conference and I think thats what you want from your non-conference schedule, said Dingman.
In the process of compiling its best September record since the 1992 team went 11-2, the Birds have been trying to develop a better block. The cornerstone of Redbird blocking is junior Emily Kabbes, who had a career-high 12 block assists in the win at Saint Louis. Kabbes, who still has more than a season to play, became just the eighth player in Redbird history to reach 250 career block assists.
