Sept. 3, 2007
Illinois State-Saint Louis Match Notes in PDF Format
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Illinois State's volleyball team will be looking to clinch its second three-match winning streak of the season when it hosts Saint Louis University Tuesday at Redbird Arena beginning at 7:05 p.m. The Redbirds are coming off last weekend's second-place finish at the `Bama Bash in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Illinois State (5-2) dropped a first-round decision to Sacramento State (21-30, 30-27, 21-30 and 19-30) Friday, but fought back to earn four-game victories against UAB (26-30, 30-17, 30-26 and 30-24) and host Alabama (30-28, 19-30, 30-21 and 30-18) Saturday. Both senior middle blocker Kari Staehlin and junior setter Erin Lindsey were named to the all-tournament team.
Saint Louis (5-1) claimed the team title at last weekend's Radisson Hotel Invitational, hosted by Bradley, in Peoria, Ill. The Billikens swept the Braves (30-22, 30-23 and 30-21), outlasted Montana in five-games (29-31, 19-30, 30-24, 30-26 and 15-11) and ousted Western Illinois (30-23, 30-16, 30-18) in the tournament finale. Whitney Behrens earned MVP honors, while Bridget Fonke and Whitney Roth were named to the All-Tournament team.
The Redbirds will be seeking their sixth win of the season against the Billikens. Oddly enough, ISU's sixth win of the 2006 campaign was against Saint Louis, only it occurred more than three weeks later in the calendar year (Sept. 26, 2006).
Including Tuesday's match against SLU, Illinois State has played against eight non-conference opponents from six different leagues. The Redbirds have taken on foes from the SEC (Florida and Alabama), the Mid-American Conference (Miami [Ohio] and Northern Illinois), the Horizon League (Valparaiso), Conference USA (UAB) and now, the Atlantic-10 (Saint Louis).
On Sept. 26, 2006, the Redbirds outlasted the Billikens in five-games (31-29, 21-30, 28-30, 30-28, 15-6) at Redbird Arena. 2007 marks the fourth-straight season that Illinois State and Saint Louis have gone head-to-head.
Illinois State is 12-3 all-time versus current members of the Atlantic-10 Conference. The Redbirds own a 6-0 all-time series lead over Dayton, are 1-0 against George Washington, have won two of the three all-time meetings with Rhode Island, are 0-1 against St. Joseph's and own a 3-1 lead over Saint Louis.
