Oct. 22, 2008
Weekend Match Notes 
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State volleyball team will begin the second-half of Missouri Valley Conference play on the road, when the Redbirds travel to East Peoria, Ill., to take on Bradley Thursday, before facing host Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Saturday (Oct. 25). Thursday's contest against the Braves will be played at Illinois Central College beginning at 7 p.m.
ISU (11-10, 4-5 MVC) is coming off last weekend's road split against Indiana State and SIU-Edwardsville. The Redbirds were outlasted by the Sycamores in four sets Friday, before becoming the fifth Valley team to defeat SIU-Edwardsville Saturday, upending the Cougars in four sets. Entering the second-half of Valley play, the Redbirds currently sit in sixth-place, one match behind fifth-place Evansville (5-4).
Continuing to celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, both of Illinois State's road matches this weekend will have pink themes. Thursday's match at Bradley is being dubbed "Dig for the Cure," and Saturday's contest versus UNI is titled "Dig Pink." Players and coaches from both teams will be wearing pink apparel in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness.
"We've learned from the first half of conference play that a missed opportunity here or there will make the difference in the outcome of the match," said head coach Melissa Myers. "Our players understand the importance of improving on our consistency and effort in every aspect of our game. We're glad to be home more than we're away in the second-half of conference play, and we're looking to use that to our advantage."
Illinois State will look to secure its third-consecutive regular-season sweep over Bradley. A win over UNI Saturday would salvage a regular-season split for the second-straight season. The Panthers recorded a convincing three-set win (25-21, 25-18, 25-22) over ISU at Redbird Arena (Sept. 26), but the Redbirds shook off a slow start against the Braves two days later, to record a 15-25, 25-12, 25-21, 25-18 win.
Junior outside hitter Peggy Riessen, the league leader in kills, was the lone Redbird in double-figures against the Panthers, contributing 11 kills to go along with 17 digs. UNI's Amy Sampson had a team-high 10 kills. The Redbirds held UNI to a .163 hitting percentage, but hit just .094 as a team in the loss.
Last time against Bradley (Sept. 28), Riessen dished out 20 kills on a .300 hitting percentage, and the Redbirds enjoyed a 10-6 blocking advantage to win three unanswered sets, and secure the come-from-behind win. Illinois State forced Bradley into 28 attack errors.
Bradley (4-18, 0-9 MVC) is the lone winless team in the Valley, but stretched both Indiana State and Southern Illinois to five-set matches, and also won single-sets over the Redbirds, Evansville and Missouri State. The Braves are led offensively by Amy Reichel and Melissa Collins, who have combined for 424 kills this season. Rachelle Dejean's 289 digs lead a threesome of Bradley players averaging two-or-more digs per set.
Northern Iowa (17-4, 7-2 MVC) went 0-2 on last weekend's Wichita State-Missouri State road trip, falling in five sets to the No. 12 Shockers, before being upset in four frames by the host Bears. The Panthers, who received nine votes in this week's AVCA Top-25 coaches poll, are led by Shannon Aschoff (3.49 kps), Sampson (3.34) and Ashten Stelken (2.80).
All three players are hitting at better than a .230 clip this season, led by Stelken's .298 attack mark. Bre Payton and Jessa Benson have both seen action as the primary setter, and Ellie Blankenship's 5.45 digs per set lead the MVC.
The Redbirds are 4-3 on the road this season, with a 2-3 Valley road mark. ISU has dropped three-consecutive Valley road decisions after last Friday's setback at Indiana State.
