Sept. 12, 2008
Final Stats
CHICAGO -
Reigning Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week Peggy Riessen continued her torrid offensive stretch, recording a career-high tying 24 kills to lift the Illinois State volleyball team (5-3) to a five-set win (25-20, 19-25, 19-25, 25-20 and 15-12) over BIG EAST Conference preseason favorite Louisville (2-3) in the first-round of the Chicago Classic at Mother McAuley High School Friday night. Dating back to the 2006 season, the Redbirds have now won nine-consecutive five-game matches.
Sophomore outside hitter Mallory Leggett chipped in 10 kills to provide ISU's other double-digit scorer. Senior Erin Lindsey provided 42 set-assists to go along with 10 digs, and junior libero Kasey Mollerus' 18 digs led the Redbirds' defensive effort.
Louisville was led by Justine Landi's 19 kills, and Anastasia Artemeva added 10. The Cardinals held statistical advantages in kills (57-55), set-assists (53-52) and digs (65-61). Illinois State ended the match with five service aces.
"This was a great win for us," said head coach Melissa Myers. "Louisville is a very physical team and plays in a great conference. I thought we had a really nice start to the match, and it was big to win that first set. But we finished even better, and that is a great sign.
"Peggy (Riessen) continued to lead us offensively (tonight), and I was pleased with our serving. We went back to serving aggressively, and it really worked out well for us in some key situations."
Both teams traded possessions for the first 14 possessions of the opening set, before the Redbirds went on a 5-1 spurt to open up a 12-7 lead. But the Cardinals charged back with a 5-1 run of their own, and forced ISU into its first timeout, clinging to a 13-12 lead. Louisville took its first lead of the match two points later, after an assisted block by Gwen Rucker and Tatyana Kolenikova.
ISU re-claimed a 15-14 lead after a kill by Riessen, and never trailed again in the frame. The Redbirds built as large as a four-point advantage down the stretch, and Katie Culbertson ended the set with a dump kill down the right line to preserve the 25-20 win.
Louisville broke a 4-4 tie with a 3-0 spurt to claim a 7-4 lead in early in the second set, and never surrendered the advantage. The Cardinals built as large as a five-point lead (15-10) before the Redbirds strung together a 6-1 run to tie the frame at 16-16. Riessen had three kills in the flurry. But the Cardinals re-gained the lead one possession later, and finished the set on an 8-3 run to secure the 25-19 win and tie the best-of-five match at 1-1.
The Cardinals led from wire-to-wire in the third set, building as large as a six-point lead. After falling behind 15-10, ISU tallied back-to-back points to pull within 15-12, but could draw no closer. Landi finished the set with five kills to lead Louisville.
The first 30 possessions of the decisive fourth set went back-and-forth, before ISU took charge. The Redbirds broke a 15-15 tie with a 4-2 spurt to claim a 19-17 lead, with M.C. Richmond and Riessen recording back-to-back kills. After Louisville pulled within 19-18, ISU put a stranglehold on the frame by completing a 6-2 set-ending run, capped off by two kills by Leggett, including the game-winner.
There were a combined seven ties and lead changes in the fifth frame, but ISU put the pressure on early, and led by two, 8-6, at the stanza's half-way point, as the teams switched sides. Out of the break, Louisville went on a 4-2 run, and tied the set, 10-10, after a kill by Artemeva. But ISU re-claimed the advantage one-point later, and never gave up the lead. The Cardinals committed three service errors down the stretch, including one to end the match.
The Redbirds will face No. 1 Penn State beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday, before taking on Illinois-Chicago at 5:30 p.m.
