Savannah Knowles had 16 kills and 12 digs, Laura Doornbos had 15 kills and Jessie Janik had a career-high 22 digs to lead Illinois State to a 26-30, 30-24, 30-17, 30-26 in the first round of the 2004 Barker GMC Classic at Redbird Arena.
But it was the blocking that propelled the team to take control of the decisive fourth game, with Lindley McDavid collecting five of her game-high nine blocks, teaming three times with freshman Kari Staehlin, who had eight blocks as the Redbirds won their ninth straight home match before a crowd of 1,541.
The Redbirds, 1-1, out-hit Denver, 0-2, .140 to .048 for the game and took advantage of 17 Pioneer service aces. That frustrated Denver coach Beth Kuwata.
The service ace to service error thing is a big red flag, said Kuwata, who got 18 kills from Lisa Hunter. A lot of our problems come from what we struggle to do on our side of the net. They were able to finish off the match. They put a lot of pressure on us, and blocked a ton of balls. They got that crowd going. We did it partially to ourselves, but, in the end, Illinois State pushed us on our destructive route.
Redbird setter Kelly Rikli, who had six kills and six digs to go with her 39 set assists, attributed the blocking to turning the momentum to Illinois State.
Our coaches tell us that the fastest way to get points is serving and blocking, said Rikli. I think blocking is a confidence thing; you get one block, and you believe you can get the next. Lindley and Kari believed that in game four.
The Redbirds fell to errors in game one, hitting -.028 with 10 hitting errors. Emily Kabbes first two kills of the match and a pair of McDavid blocks helped ISU build a 10-6 lead in game two, but Denver charged back behind the serving of Megan Clement to take an 11-10 lead. With the score tied at 17-17, a Rikli tip was followed by Kabbes-Laura Doornbos blocks and a Doornbos kill to give ISU a 21-17 cushion, enough to finish the game on top.
Ashley Grubb served three straight points to give ISU a 7-2 lead in game three, but the Pioneers closed to 8-6 before Maura McCarthy came off the bnech for a kill, a service ace and some defensive gems as ISU went on a 10-3 run to put game three in hand.
Redbird coach Sharon Dingman thought McCarthy helped turn the match in Illinois States favor in game three.
When we put Maura McCarthy in, we went on a 10-3 run and we have to give her a lot of credit for winning this match, said Dingman. Weve said that Lindley McDavid is an incredible blocker and she was. Kelly, Savannah and Kari, all got involved in the block.
In the first match of the tournament, Jacqueline Huguelets kill and two succeeding service points took Iowa from a 10-9 deficit to a 12-10 lead and a win in game five to lead the Hawkeyes to a 28-30, 30-25, 30-18, 27-30, 15-11 win over Wright State. Sarah Poling led five Raiders in double figures with 15 kills. Laura Simpsons 17 kills and Pam Kavadas 25 digs led the Hawkeyes, 1-0. Tayler Gerlachs 20 digs led Wright State, 0-2.
All four teams play twice on Saturday, with Illinois States matches going at noon against Wright State and 7 p.m. against Iowa. Denver plays Iowa at 10 a.m. and Wright State at 5 p.m.
