Sept. 5, 2008
Final Stats
NORMAL, Ill. - It took a few minutes to get fired up, but the Mallory Leggett- Peggy Riessen scoring machine took control mid-way through the first set and paved the way to a 3-0 (25-23, 25-13, 25-18) Illinois State win over Western Carolina in the Redbird Classic Friday night at Redbird Arena.
Leggett and Riessen picked up where they left off in a season-opening win over Northern Illinois on Tuesday and paced the Redbirds (3-2) with
31 combined kills. Riessen led all hitters with 18 kills and hit .517 for the match. Illinois State's M.C. Richmond set a season-high with 12 kills while hitting .524, and led the Redbirds with 10 digs.
As impressive as the three hitters were, Illinois State's Erin Lindsay keyed the Redbirds to victory in the first set. With the Redbirds trailing 20-18, Lindsey had a hand in six of the final seven scores.
Lindsey won a 50-50 ball at the net and registered a block to cut the Catamount lead to 21-20 and tied the match on the next live ball while combining with Tabitha Visk on another block. Lindsey collected a pair of assists and an ace en route to the Redbirds' win.
The Redbirds cruised in the second set while posting a .500 hitting percentage and limiting the Catamounts (0-5) to a .069 mark. Illinois State opened the set with five consecutive points coming from four different players and led 8-1 before Western Carolina scored its second point. Illinois State closed the set on a 7-1 run and recorded the largest single-game margin of victory of the season with the 25-13 win.
In the third set, both teams traded scores through the early going and Western Carolina led halfway through the frame, but the Redbird attack proved to be too much. Riessen tallied six kills in the third set, and service specialist Jessica Pratapas notched a pair of aces in a Redbird run to help llinois State secure its second three-set sweep of the season.
Brittany Lysik led the way offensively for the Catamounts with seven kills and Katie Hennessey added 21 assists. Western Carolina, 1-15 in five losses this season, hit .072 as a team for the match and was out-blocked 8-2.
Redbird Classic competition continues on Saturday with Western Carolina facing Western Michigan at 10 a.m. (CT) and the Redbirds taking on Oakland at noon. Illinois State will also play Western Michigan in the
7:05 match on Saturday night.
