April 22, 2006
Normal, Ill. -
A fifth-year senior, high-flying Lindley McDavid has never played left-side hitter in her life. A right-side and middle with more career blocks than kills at Illinois State, McDavid's previously-unrevealed all-around skills, including hitting, digging and serving, were the keys to the Redbirds' undefeated run to the championship of the 2006 Kelly Meisner Invitational Volleyball Tournament Saturday in Redbird Arena.
Against Quincy in the first match of the pool play, McDavid had 10 kills in two games as the Redbirds rolled, 25-17 and 25-10. She had four kills in game one and three more in game two against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville as ISU won 25-18, 25-13. McDavid also served a 5-0 run in game one and a 6-0 run in game two against the Cougars, picking up four aces along the way. And, in the end, she went back to her roots for a stuff block to start a 5-0 run to finish game two and send the Redbirds into the Championship Flight.
McDavid who has battled knee injuries throughout her career, says feeling healthy is a big part of it.
"I'm healthy and that's a good part," said McDavid. "The rest is just getting the timing and footwork down. I'm enjoying it (playing left side). Sometimes, when you start doing something you've never done before, it energizes you to work harder."
Redbird coach Sharon Dingman is pleased with McDavid's progress.
"She is starting to manage the game really well," said Dingman. "Lindley is hitting more balls than she ever has in her career and she is playing with confidence. She should be playing with confidence because she is healthy and working hard every day."
McDavid's work helps balance the Redbird attack and balances ISU's offense. In the SIU-E match, Kari Staehlin had 11 kills, Mary Catherine Richmond had eight, McDavid had seven, Kristin Dziubla had five and Jessie Janik added four. Erin Lindsey had three kills in addition to setting the offense.
In the first match of championship play against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, Staehlin looked like the Staehlin who was dominating the Missouri Valley Conference in 2005 before a bout with mononucleosis derailed her season. Her 11 kills in the 25-22, 25-14 victory included four screamers that found floor near the three-meter stripe.
The championship-clinching first game against Western Illinois began with an ace by Richmond and ended with one from Jessica Pratapas. In between, ISU's new, faster-paced offense produced eight kills by five different players early in game two as ISU took a 14-5 lead over the Westerwinds on the way to a 25-16 win.
Pratapas helped ISU build an 8-3 edge in the final game with back-to-back service aces and Janik led the hitting with four kills as the `Birds ended the day 8-0 in games with a 25-19 finishing win.
Dingman thought ballhandling was an unsung hero of the day, and that defensive specialist Kelly Waterstraat was the leader of that effort.
"If there was an MVP, I think it should be Kelly," said Dingman. "Our ball control was really good; that, and our blocking, which is getting much better, put our team in position to do the things we needed to do to win."
POOL 1
Illinois State 25-25, Quincy 17-10
DePaul 25, Quincy 19; Quincy 26, DePaul 24
Illinois State 25-25, DePaul 18-13
POOL 2
Western Illinois 25-25, Illinois Central 16-23
Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 25-25, Illinois Central 18-18
Western Illinois 25-25, SIU-Edwardsville 13-19
CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT
Illinois State 25-25, SIU-Edwardsville 22-14
Western Illinois 25, SIU-Edwardsville 18; SIU-E 26, WIU 24
Illinois State 25-25, Western Illinois 16-19
CHALLENGE FLIGHT
DePaul 25-25, Illinois Central 17-23
Quincy 25, Illinois Central 22; Illinois Central 26, Quincy 24
Quincy 25, DePaul 19; DePaul 25, Quincy 14
