Oct. 22, 2005
Box Score
Des Moines, Iowa -
Kari Staehlin had 14 kills, Emily Kabbes had 13 and Ashley Grubb collected 22 digs to lead Illinois State to a 30-26, 22-30, 30-19, 30-21 win over Drake in a Missouri Valley Conference volleyball match Saturday at the Knapp Center.
Illinois State, 13-7, 9-2 in the Valley, maintain a hold on second place in the Valley while beating Drake for the 42nd time in 47 meetings. ISU has won the last 20 matches against Drake. Lindley McDavid's career-high eight kills to go with a team-high six blocks helped the Redbirds rebound from a slow start. She also had three or more points on four different service stands.
Redbird coach Sharon Dingman thought McDavid's kills were as big as her digs.
"Lindley has helped us all year by blocking balls, but tonight I thought she really put down some shots," said Dingman. "Her blocking can change matches, but tonight you saw the results of her spending a lot of time after her knee injury (in 2003) with her serving."
McDavid was glad she could help her team, especially in games three and four.
"After game two, we need to come out with some fire. We needed to be more aggressive and be `Illinois State'" said McDavid. "(The players off the bench) were really aggressive and we hustled."
Setter Erin Lindsey had 53 set assists to reach 992 this season, the most by an Illinois State freshman setter. The previous freshman set assist record was 973 by Marisa Brickley in 1995. Brickley holds both the single-season and career ISU set assist records.
ISU wasn't sharp in the first two games, and Redbird coach Sharon Dingman sent in reinforcements in game three--outside hitter Manoela Vieira DaCunha with eight kills and nine digs, defensive specialist Amy Olson, who had eight digs and right-side hitter Mary Catherine Richmond. In all, every one of the 14 Redbirds contributed a kill or a dig to the effort. Olson had a career-high eight digs.
Drake, 3-20, 2-9 in the Valley had won a four-game match with Indiana State on Friday, came out aggressively in game one. The Redbirds didn't take their first lead until Savannah Knowles killed an overpass caused by Lindley McDavid's strong serve to put ISU ahead 17-16. The teams traded points until McDavid and Emily Kabbes teamed up for a block at the net and a 21-20 ISU lead. Three Staehlin kills and two more Redbird blocks helped ISU finish the first game with a win.
The Bulldogs jumped to a 4-1 lead in game two on the strength of Lindsey Johnson's two service aces. ISU battled back to a 10-10 tie, but Eve Johnson drilled four straight kills for Drake and the Bulldogs took control and tied the match at 1-1.
ISU won game three by out-hitting Drake .211 to -.119, then improved that edge to .270 to -.026 in game four. Drake got 15 kills each from Eve Johnson and Megan Veltman, but hit just .058 for the match.
The Redbirds conclude their three-match road swing with a 7 p.m. Thursday meeting at Northern Illinois before coming home to play Evansville and Southern Illinois next weekend at Redbird Arena.
