Sept. 25, 2005
Box Score
NORMAL, Ill. -
Emily Kabbes had season-high 13 kills as Illinois State downed Creighton 30-25, 34-32, 30-21 in a Missouri Valley Conference volleyball match Sunday at Redbird Arena.
Kabbes got help from Laura Doornbos, who collected six of her 10 kills in game three, and a whole bunch of teammates as ISU used 12 players to beat Creighton for the 10th straight time and the 22nd time in 25 meetings. Kristen Dziubla, filling in for an injured Kari Staehlin, chipped in with seven kills, six blocks and some key service points. In game two, Savannah Knowles made her first appearance of the match with the scored tied at 31. She promptly made two key passes, picked up a dig and got the deciding point in a 34-32 nail-biter.
Redbird coach Sharon Dingman thought her middles were a big key, tking sets from Erin Lindsey, who had 50 set assists for the match--20 total to her middles."
"As the match went on we realized where we could take advantage," said Dingman. "Emily and Erin (Lindsey) were connecting and Kriztin Dziubla showed great confidence, and had a really nice match."
Dingman especially appreciated Dziubla's efforts in relief of her roommate, Staehlin.
"Kristin and Kari are roommates and I'm sure Kari enjoyed watching Kristin do a great job," said Dingman. "This is a big win for us, but we know once we get into the thick of the conference race, Kari will be playing a huge role. It's good to be able to give her the extra time to rest."
Creighton coach Kirsten Birnthal Booth thought Kabbes made a big difference in a match that pitted two of the top four freshman setters in the nation in set assists per game--ISU's Lindsey and Creighton's Korie Lebeda.
"We talked about the fact that Emily hurt us on the same shot over and over again, so we tried making adjustments as much as we could," said Birthal Booth. "Erin puts up a great ball. We knew that from the tape. She has big shoes to fill after replacing (all-conference setter) Kelly (Rikli) but she is doing very well and is going to be great. Our freshman setter does a great job, and I'm pleased with how she did in this game."
The first two games were about as close as they come. Game one was tied at every point through 16-16, but Lindsey went to the service line at that point and ISU went on a 6-0 run. That was enough distance to hold-off the Jays. Both teams had multiple chances at game point in game two, with Doornbos swinging away against Leah Ratzlaff, who had 14 kills in the match. Doornbos' kill broke a 32-32 tie. Then, she served and Knowles picked up the game winner hitting cross court.
Kabbes complimented Knowles, who didn't start, but helped ISU go ahead 2-0 in the match at the end of game two.
"I think Savannah came in and did a great job after not playing for two games," said Kabbes. "She came in, took a couple of great swings and helped us win that game."
ISU took that momentum into game three as Knowles' kill opened the scoring with a kill and a block. The `Birds took a 10-4 lead and never gave it back, depending on blocking and defense to score those early points.
The Redbirds hit the road this week for a Tuesday match at Saint Louis, then Friday at Southern Illinois and Saturday at Evansville.
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