Oct. 28, 2005
Box Score
Normal, Ill. -
Laura Doornbos tallied eight of her game-high 21 kills in game five as Illinois State became just the ninth Division I volleyball program to reach 850 all-time victories with a 30-25, 19-30, 30-22, 31-33, 15-7 win over Evansville in a Missouri Valley Conference match Friday at Redbird Arena.
After an Evansville comeback forced game five, Doornbos ignited the Redbird attack with five of the first seven points in kills to put the `Birds ahead 7-2 in the fifth game. Doornbos finished her incredible game with a kill for match point, giving her more kills in the final game than UE had points.
"We let Doornbos get away from us in that fifth game," said UE coach Mike Swan. "That's what we talked about in the locker room (after the match). Their senior stepped up."
Redbird coach Sharon Dingman had her senior primed to do the job in game five.
"I told her `you're the big dog, go be the big dog,' and she performed," said Dingman. "I felt pretty good that she was going to be able to do some things tonight. She had a great practice on Wednesday and another one on Thursday."
Doornbos enjoyed the ride, which was done in 10 swings without an error.
"The sets were there," said Doornbos. "I just got into a rhythm."
Illinois State joins UCLA, Missouri State, Brigham Young, Long Beach State, Penn State, Nebraska, Texas and Texas-Arlington as the only teams in recorded volleyball history to reach 850 wins. This is the 33rd season of recorded Redbird volleyball history.
Illinois State, 14-8, 10-2 in the Valley, also guaranteed itself its 23rd straight winning record in conference play. The Redbirds are the only Valley volleyball team to have a winning record every year the conference has played a regular-season round-robin schedule.
Evansville, 7-19, 2-10 in the Valley, falls to 0-24 all-time in the series with Illinois State.
The Aces got off to a fast start in game one with some strong serving and defense leading to a 16-9 advantage. ISU crept back to ties at 19-19 and 20-20 before the Aces used a ball-handling error and an Erin Lindsey hitting error to take a 22-20 lead. Redbird coach Sharon Dingman called time out and the Redbirds responded. A Doornbos kill put Ashley Grubb at the service line and she followed with an ace to tie the score. Another Doornbos kill, two UE hitting errors and a Doornbos-Emily Kabbes block gave the `Birds a 26-22 edge and the momentum to win game one.
Five Redbird hitting errors early in game two gave the Aces a 15-7 advantage. This time, the `Birds couldn't respond and the Aces pulled away thanks to seven team blocks--nearly half of ISU's 15 hitting errors in the game.
Five blocks plus a 7-0, two-ace, run served by Doornbos, got ISU a 15-5 lead in game three. Among the bench players Dingman used junior Manoela Viera DaCunha, who had eight of her career-high 19 digs in game three. Her fourth kill of the game was game point.
Evansville led 21-15 in game four before Lindley McDavid started a 6-0 run with back-to-back kills and ISU rallied to tie at 21-21. After a UE block, kills by Kristin Dziubla and DaCunha got ISU a 24-22 edge. But Evansville fought back to win even though ISU had a shot at game point, up 30-29.
Illinois State played its second straight match without sophomore middle blocker Kari Staehlin. The Redbirds' leading percentage hitter is sidelined with mononucleosis until at least mid-November.
The Redbirds meet Southern Illinois in a 7 p.m. match Saturday at Redbird Arena.
