Sept. 13, 2007
Illinois State Match Notes in PDF Format
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NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State's volleyball team will look to jump out to a 2-0 start in Missouri Valley Conference play when it travels to Southern Illinois and Evansville in the league's opening weekend. The Redbirds will face host SIU at Davies Gym Friday, and travel to the Carson Center to take on Evansville Saturday. Both matches are set to begin at 7 p.m.
Illinois State and Southern Illinois come into Friday's match with identical 8-3 records. The Redbirds had their previous five-match winning streak snapped by No. 20 Ohio State Tuesday at Redbird Arena, while the Salukis were swept by Illinois Wednesday night in Champaign.
Evansville (7-4) defeated Lipscomb on the road in their last match on Tuesday night. Before that victory, UE was crowned champions of the Mercer University Bear Brawl for their second invitational championship of the season.
The Redbirds will be seeking their ninth win of the season against Southern Illinois. Illinois State didn't capture its ninth win of the 2006 season until Oct. 12 against in-state rival Bradley, in its eighth Missouri Valley Conference contest of the campaign.
Illinois State owns a 57-5 all-time series advantage against SIU, and has won each of the last 31 regular-season meetings. The Redbirds' lone loss to Evansville came at the Carson Center last season.
Last season, Illinois State opened the Valley slate with back-to-back losses against Wichita State and Missouri State. The following weekend, the Redbirds split the road series with the Salukis and Aces.
