Oct. 20, 2005
Normal, Ill. -
Although admitting there are no `moral victories,' Illinois State head volleyball coach Sharon Dingman saw a lot of good things for her team to take forward from Tuesday's four-game loss to No. 9 Notre Dame into the start of the second round of Missouri Valley Conference play starting at 7 p.m. Friday at Creighton.
"Notre Dame showed us some things about our team and how we can get better," said Dingman, whose Redbirds are riding a seven-match conference winning streak into Omaha. "In some ways, Notre Dame is the perfect opponent to have at this time of the season. They challenged us in ways other teams weren't able to, and that's good for us. Now we know how we need to get better."
Redbird junior outside hitter Savannah Knowles, whose digging has helped elevate the Redbird defense in recent weeks, thinks her team has won seven of its last nine matches because it has practiced harder.
"I think we finally realized how to practice hard," said Knowles, who averaged 2.12 digs per game in the first nine matches, but 3.14 during the last nine. "Our week of practice (prior to Indiana State and Notre Dame) was the best since I've been at Illinois State."
Knowles, the only player in the Valley to average at least 3.0 kills and 3.0 digs in 2004, has helped Illinois State raise its digs per game this season from 15.80 to 17.53 as the `Birds have improved their blocking and lowered their hitting error totals as well (from 6.7 hitting errors per game to 6.0).
Dingman applauded Knowles' leadership on the court as another reason for Illinois State's recent strong play, including her 14 kills and 16 digs against the Irish.
"Savannah really played hard against Notre Dame," said Dingman. "She has been digging a lot of balls, but not only that, she has been a little less cautious in going for balls. She has become a leader as far as how you go for balls and how you play."
Heading into the second half of the Valley slate, Dingman knows her team's approach will be a key.
"When you play a team two or three times, you have to be crafty and risk some things and sometimes change some things," said Dingman, who isn't afraid to change her lineup--ISU has played at least 12 players in 14 of 18 matches this season.
The `Birds, 11-7, 7-2 in the Valley, gets a return match with the Bluejays, 10-10, 4-5 in the Valley to start round two. The first match of the season between CU and ISU saw the `Birds win in three games--but the final result wasn't nearly as close as the match. Game one was tied at every point from 1 through 16. It took a 6-0 Redbird run at that point--including five service points by freshman setter Erin Lindsey--to create enough distance for a 30-25 win. Game two was a 34-32 nail-biter finally decided by back-to-back kills by Laura Doornbos and Knowles.
To Dingman and the Redbirds, who are tied for second in the Valley standings, the race for a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the six-team State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament is critical. The top two seeds get a bye and, in 2004, the Redbirds tied for second place in the regular season, but lost a tiebreaker and didn't get the bye.
"The bye is huge," said Dingman. "If you don't get the bye, you have to win twice in one day to get to the finals. There's a huge difference between being the No. 1 or No. 2 seed, and being No. 3."
The Redbirds continue their two-match trip with a 7 p.m. Saturday meeting at Drake before coming home to play Evansville and Southern Illinois next weekend at Redbird Arena.
