Sept. 3, 2006
Final Stats
HOUSTON, Texas - Tomball, Texas native and senior outside hitter Lindley McDavid recorded a career-high 16 kills, but it wasn't enough to oust host Rice in the championship match of the Holiday Inn Select Rice Invitational here at Autry Court Saturday night. The Owls claimed a come-from-behind, five-game triumph (30-28, 21-30, 30-32, 30-15, 11-15) over the Redbirds to finish first in the tournament. Both teams finished 2-1 in the event, but Rice was crowned champion after claiming the tiebreaker via the head-to-head victory.
The Redbirds jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the match, but Rice claimed the ensuing two games to take a commanding 2-1 lead. After a dominating ISU performance in game four, the Owls used a 6-0 run in game five to clinch the tournament title. With the setback, Illinois State moves to 3-4 on the season heading into next weekend's Campus USA Credit Union Classic in Gainesville, Fla., hosted by No. 5 Florida.
"Rice really made a good run in the fifth game there, but I thought it should have been our win after four games," said head coach Sharon Dingman. "For as well as we executed during the end of games in this tournament, I thought we executed poorly in game three. But Give Rice credit; they really made it tough on us in that fifth game."
Sophomore setter Erin Lindsey and McDavid were both named to the all-tournament team. Lindsey finished the three matches by averaging more than 58 set assists per contest, while McDavid set career-highs in kills twice while playing in her home town. Other notable performances included Kari Staehlin tying a career-high with 22 kills, while M.C. Richmond contributed 12 kills while hitting .286. Rice's Karyn Morgan led all scorers with 27 kills.
Illinois State claimed a 30-28 decision in game one, their first game one victory of the tournament. Rice jumped out to a 9-5 lead, but the `Birds answered with a 4-0 run to tie the game at 9-9. The Owls would lead just one more time in the stanza, and Illinois State opened up an 18-13 edge after back-to-back kills, forcing head coach Genny Volpe into her first timeout. Rice mounted a comeback, and tied the game four more times; but McDavid recorded three kills down the stretch, including the game-winner, to secure the win. Staehlin collected three kills in the game, as Illinois State held the Owls to just a .039 hitting percentage in the frame.
The Redbirds never led in game two, as Rice came right back with a 30-21 victory to tie the match at 1-1 in the best of five. The Owls jumped out to the early 7-3 lead, and stretched the lead to seven or more points on five occasions. The Owls ended the stanza on a 7-0 run after the Redbirds had pulled within 25-19. Morgan had two kills in the stretch. Both Bogan and Morgan contributed four kills in the game, while Staehlin countered with five for the `Birds.
Game three went to extra points, with Rice recording the tightly contested 32-30 win. Both teams traded points over the first 25 possessions before the Owls claimed their largest lead, 19-15, following a Peggy Riessen service error. The Redbirds followed by collecting six of the next seven points, and tied the game at 21-21. Illinois State grabbed the lead on the ensuing point, and didn't relinquish for the next seven possessions until back-to-back kills gave Rice the 27-25 edge.
The frame was tied three more times before Tessa Kuykendall and Morgan capped off the victory and 2-1 lead with back-to-back kills. Morgan collected seven kills in the game, while Staehlin powered nine terminations past the Rice defense in the losing effort.
The Redbirds won game four running away by a count of 30-15, its largest margin of victory this season. The serving of Richmond got the `Birds on a roll in the early going, as she led them to six consecutive points and the early 7-4 lead. The lead was stretched to 18-8 14 points later, and the Owls wouldn't get any closer than nine points the rest of the way. The `Birds built as much as a 13-point lead, and collected the 30-15 win on back-to-back kills by Richmond.
In the decisive fifth game, the Owls erased a 7-4 lead by capitalizing on a 6-0 run to claim a 10-7 lead that they would never give up. Morgan collected two kills to give Rice the 14-11 lead, and won the game after Peggy Riessen hit the ensuing attack into the net.
"We saw a lot of perseverance out of this group this week," Dingman said. "Outside of game three today, every time our backs were against the wall, we really responded. I was really impressed with the poise of our freshmen, and they are only going to get better. The next time we are in a situation similar to this one, we'll know how to react."
