Oct. 31, 2009
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NORMAL, Ill. -
It was an intense three sets as the Redbirds (10-14, 5-8 MVC) fell to Southern Illinois (17-7, 6-7 MVC) for the first time in 13-straight matches. Junior Mallory Leggett had another historical night by surpassing 1,000 career digs. The `Birds fell to the Salukis in three-consecutive sets (25-23, 25-22, 25-17) Saturday night.
With a team-high 17 digs on the night, Leggett became the fourth player in ISU history to have 1,000 kills and digs and only the second junior to accomplish the feat. The only other Redbird to accomplish the historic mark with Leggett was Chris Rehor-Federico. Leggett led the Redbirds with 10 kills.
Freshman Angela Rego also had 10 kills, but no other Redbird had more than four individually. ISU had just 33 kills in the match, while SIU compiled 47. Senior Kasey Mollerus had 16 digs.
Southern Illinois snapped a 13-match losing streak to the Redbirds and won in Redbird Arena for the first time since 1990.
Illinois State gave a valiant effort in the first set as the Salukis took it, 25-23. The Redbirds fought to keep within reach of the Salukis as it seemed every time the `Birds came within a point or tied, the Salukis would widen the gap again. The Redbirds held great defense with a total of five blocks and only six errors compared to SIU's 13. There were six tie scores and only two lead changes throughout the set full of long rallies.
The second set seemed to follow the same theme from the first set with a final score of 25-22 Southern Illinois. The Salukis cleaned up by cutting their errors to five. The `Birds tied the score, 14-14, but then took a timeout after they fell behind, 20-18. ISU continued its solid defense with four more blocks, but were unable to execute offensively with a .152 kill percentage. With only one tie score and no lead changes, the `Birds were unable to achieve a victory.
In the third and final set of the night, the Salukis capitalized on a 7-2 lead early on. Two Leggett kills and two SIU ball handling errors cut the deficit down to 15-8. The Salukis kept the momentum to complete their victory over the Redbirds in Redbird Arena.
Illinois State visits Valley-leader Northern Iowa Friday at 7 p.m.
