Nov. 4, 2005
Final Stats
Peoria, Ill. -
Emily Kabbes had 18 kills, Mary Catherine Richmond added 13 with seven blocks and Ashley Grubb collected 29 digs as Illinois State rebounded from a first-game drubbing to beat Bradley 13-30, 30-19, 30-21, 30-23 in a Missouri Valley Conference volleyball match Friday at Robertson Field House.
Redbird coach Sharon Dingman praised her team's resiliency.
"I don't like getting beat 30-13, but that's happened to us three or four times this year and our players have been able to respond," said Dingman. "By the time the coaches got to the huddle (between games one and two), I think the players had forgotten about game one."
The Redbirds, 16-8 overall, 12-2 in the Valley, won their 12th straight conference volleyball match, the longest Illinois State conference streak in one season since the 1996 team won 15 in a row--and the Valley championship.
The Braves, 14-13 overall, 7-6 in the Valley, got 27 kills and 21 digs from Lindsey Stalzer, who became only the second player in Missouri Valley history to reach 1,800 career kills. ISU had better balance, with Laura Doornbos at 12 and Savannah Knowles with 10 kills. Grubb, who has played against Stalzer for four years, saluted the Bradley senior.
"She jumps high and hits hard," said Grubb. "My goal (in digging against Stalzer) is just to keep the ball in our court. Sometimes, to do that, I had to dig it straight up. She makes it tough."
Grubb led a group of five Redbirds with double-figure digs as Knowles and Erin Lindsey had 12, Kelly Waterstraat and Jessie Janik had 10 each. ISU out-killed Bradley 67-59 and out-dug the Braves 89-78.
A 6-0 run gave the Braves a 9-3 lead in game one, but, after a Kristin Dziubla kill, Bradley reeled-off 10 more points in a row and led 19-4. Twelve Redbird hitting errors were more than enough for the Braves to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Bradley led 6-4 in game two when the Redbirds started rolling. The Braves sent back overpasses on three straight Doornbos serves and Kabbes swatted each one down for a kill during an 18-6 Redbird spurt. Kabbes had seven of the 22 Redbird kills in game two. Doornbos had six of her 12 kills in game two.
ISU sprinted away from a 12-10 lead in game three with seven unanswered points, six on Grubb serves to lead 18-10. Bradley got no closer than five points after that and the `Birds took a 2-1 lead in games. Richmond had five kills and four blocks and three digs in game three.
Game four was a back-and-forth battle until Knowles broke a 13-13 tie by sending a dig back over for a kill. She followed with two more swings for kills and Lindley McDavid scored on a service ace as ISU took an 18-14 lead and never looked back.
Illinois State continues to play without sophomore middle blocker Kari Staehlin, who has missed four matches with mononucleosis and likely won't return for two more weeks. She is ISU's leader in kills per game and hitting percentage.
"Every game we play without Kari, we're getting a little better," said Dingman, whose team faces Northern Iowa in West Gym on Saturday. "I love playing in West Gym. We know Northern Iowa will be a challenge, but this team is a close group. It's fun to go to practice every day with a group that cares about each other so much. They are all fighters and those seniors (Grubb, Kabbes and Doornbos) are leaders."
