Sept. 30, 2005
Box Score
Carbondale, Ill. -
Savannah Knowles had 13 kills and Ashley Grubb had 23 digs to help Illinois State overcome seven-point deficits in game two and game three to beat Southern Illinois 30-27, 30-25, 30-28 in a Missouri Valley Conference volleyball match Friday at Dorothy Davies Gymnasium.
Illinois State broke a school record for digs in a three-game match with 84, beating the previous mark of 82 at Creighton on Nov. 11, 2000. Erin Lindsey had a career-high 14 digs, while Savannah Knowles and Kelly Waterstraat had 11 each.
Redbird coach Sharon Dingman thought Southern played hard, and so did her team.
"We had to be better tonight because Southern got the job done serving," said Dingman. "They had a great game plan and executed it well. But we competed like heck. I'm really proud of the way we came back, particularly in game two."
Kari Staehlin had just one kill in game one, but her seven kills in game two helped Illinois State rebound from an 18-11 deficit to win. A five-point service stand by Grubb got ISU back even at 19-19 with an 8-1 spurt. Then, with the Salukis ahead 22-21, Staehlin's back-to-back kill started a 6-0 run behind Knowles' serving as ISU went up 2-0 in the match. Jessie Janik had five digs and made perfect passes of free balls to set up five of the 16 Redbird kills.
Laura Doornbos, who had 12 kills, thought Janik's energy made a big difference.
"Jessie is our energy girl out there," said Doornbos. "We know she's a fan favorite because she brings so much energy to the court. She was huge for us in that game."
Southern Illinois led 19-12 and looked like it was ready to win game three, when Staehlin put together back-to-back kills to start the rally. A Lindley McDavid ace got ISU within 19-15, but the `Birds didn't get the lead until Amy Olson served back-to-back points on Knowles kills to get the `Birds a 26-25 lead. ISU out-scored SIU 15-6 to take a 27-25 lead. Southern tied it at 27-27 and 28-28, but Knowles and Doornbos finished the match with back-to-back kills.
The Redbirds, 7-6, 3-2 in the Valley, are 54-5 all-time against Southern Illinois and have beaten the Salukis 28 straight times in regular-season conference play. The only Saluki win in the series with Illinois State since 1990 was in the 2002 State Farm-Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
Emily Kabbes became the 15th player in Illinois State history to reach 1,000 career kills in game one. With ISU trailing 12-9, Kabbes smacked her second kill of the game off a Saluki defender. SIU scored on a Redbird hitting error to lead 13-10 after that, but Doornbos started a Redbird rally with a cross-court shot for a kill. ISU put together a 12-3 run to take a 22-16 lead. SIU charged at the end to get within 29-27, but Knowles' sixth kill of the game finished it for ISU.
The Salukis, 4-9, 1-3 in the Valley, got 10 kills from Johannah Yutzy.
Redbird junior outside hitter Manoela Vieira DaCunha is still out of action because of a back injury. She will be re-evaluted by medical staff next week.
After the road trip, Illinois State comes home for four in a row against Northern Iowa (Oct. 7), Bradley (Oct. 9), Indiana State (Oct. 15) and Notre Dame (Oct. 17), the No. 10 team in the nation.
