Nov. 25, 2005
Final Stats
Cedar Falls, Iowa -
Mary Catherine Richmond matched her career highs with 13 kills and seven blocks to lead a balanced attack as Illinois State defeated Bradley 30-19, 30-25, 30-23 in the first round of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. A changed Redbird starting lineup produced a new look and improved offense for the Redbirds, who hit .324 for the match to Bradley's .110.
Illinois State, 18-11, advanced to the semifinals against No. 2 seed Missouri State at 5 p.m. Friday behind Savannah Knowles' 12 kills, Laura Doornbos' 11 kills and a nine-kill, 15-dig performance by Manoela Vieira DaCunha, who was in the starting lineup for the first time this season.
The lineup shake-up put Doornbos on the right side and DaCunha on the left for Illinois State and it worked starting in game one. Although Doornbos didn't get a kill until point No. 27, the Redbirds hit .442 in game one. Knowles had seven kills without an error and Cuhna and Richmond had four each.
With Stalzer collecting seven kills in Bradley's first 12 points, the Braves and Redbirds were tied at 12-apiece. But the `Birds got rolling from there. Cunha smashed a kill off the block and Richmond followed with a step shot from the right side. That was the start of a 6-0 run which helped Illinois State finish with an 18-7 run to win game one.
Redbird coach Sharon Dingman devised the new lineup after the Redbirds hit a season low .089 as a team last Saturday against Wichita State. Never afraid to make changes during the course of a match, Dingman had confidence that her student-athletes could make the necessary adjustments 28 matches into the season.
"We put the new offense in on Monday and the players embraced it right from the start," said Dingman, who earned her 298th career college coaching victory."That was the key. Our offense was sputtering and we felt a change was necessary."
A Bradley blitz fueled by three Lindsey Stalzer kills got the Braves to a 23-23 tie in game two, but Doornbos smashed a cross-court kill to start the `Birds on a 7-2 finish which included three kills by Richmond. Illinois State rebounded to hit .333 in game three as Doornbos had six kills.
The Redbirds had 57 kills in the three games, 42 of them set by Valley Freshman of the Year Erin Lindsey, who also had 13 digs, five kills and three blocks in the match.
Bradley finishes its season 16-17 despite Stalzer's 25 kills and 11 digs. She finished her Bradley career as the Valley's all-time career and single-season kill leader.
Missouri Valley Conference Libero of the Year Ashley Grubb increased her Illinois State single-season dig record to 553 with 18 digs--she has 127 in 20 games over her last six matches for the Redbirds, an average of 6.35 per game.
Dingman believes that the way her team played was at least as big a key as the lineup adjustment.
"We came out very aggressive," said Dingman. "It's still about playing volleyball. It still boiled down to execution, and we executed."
