Nov. 5, 2010
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NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State (16-11, 6-8 MVC) took four-point leads early in all three sets en route to a sweep of visiting Southern Illinois (15-9, 5-8 MVC) Friday night (27-25, 25-20, 25-17. Four Redbirds combined for a .493 hitting percentage.
Six Redbirds combined for the team's 48 kills and ISU had only 12 errors for a hitting percentage of .305. Junior Tabitha Visk and freshman Shannon McGlaughlin led the `Birds with 10 kills each. Senior Mallory Leggett and freshman LeighAnn Hranka had eight each, while senior Hailey Kelley and junior Kristin Stauter had six apiece. Hranka, McGlaughlin, Stauter and Visk combined for 34 kills and only one error in the match.
Leggett recorded 11 digs, moving into a tie for third place on the Illinois State career list with former teammate Erin Lindsey with 1,361.
Illinois State's win, combined with Evansville's three-set loss at Indiana State, moved the Redbirds into sole possession of sixth place in the conference with only four matches remaining for the Redbirds.
Illinois State built a 5-0 lead to start the first set, with three different players recording kills. Visk recorded two kills and Stauter won a battle at the net for another to extend the Redbird lead to 12-5. At that point, ISU had seven kills and one error, while SIU had 2 kills and five errors for a -.158 hitting percentage. Visk and Stauter each got another kill to extend the Redbird lead to six, 18-12. Three kills, two ISU errors and a block fueled a 6-1 SIU and cut the deficit down to 20-19. Another Saluki block tied the set for the first time at 22. SIU used a 9-3 run to erase the six-point deficit.
Hranka recorded a kill to maintain ISU's advantage and an SIU error gave ISU set-point. SIU came back with a kill after a long rally and another kill to tie the score at 24 and extend the set. After the two teams traded points, McGlaughlin recorded a kill and an SIU attack went long, giving the set to the Redbirds, 27-25. Visk led the Redbirds with five kills on only six attacks.
After an SIU service error, Leggett served three-straight aces in the second set, putting ISU ahead, 7-2. Four SIU errors contributed to a 7-2 ISU run, extending the lead to 18-10. A kill and a solo block by Kelley and a dump shot kill by Stauter gave the Redbirds a 10-point advantage for the first time, 21-11. Kelley recorded another kill to bring ISU to set-point, but SIU answered with seven-straight points to pull within four, 24-20. Stauter won another battle at the net for a kill, ending the SIU run and winning the set for the Redbirds, 25-20.
Illinois State took an early lead again in the third set, using four kills and a block to go up, 6-2. A Stauter kill and two Leggett kills extended the lead to 10-4. Eight of ISU's first 10 points came on kills. The Redbirds continued to dominate the set, recording three kills and a block to build its lead to eight points, 20-12. The teams traded points the rest of the way, but ISU's lead was big enough to secure the 25-17 win and the match sweep.
Illinois State hosts Evansville Saturday at 7:05 p.m.
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