Oct. 20, 2012
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The Illinois State volleyball team (12-9, 6-5 MVC) fell to Northern Iowa (19-6, 10-1 MVC) Saturday night at the McLeod Center. The Redbirds were led by Ashley Rosch with 14 kills and LeighAnn Hranka who went errorless with eight kills for a team high.320 hitting percentage.
Jenny Menendez posted a match-high 23 digs and Kaitlyn Early added 36 assists and 12 digs. The Redbirds outblocked UNI, but were outhit by 22 kills.
Illinois State marked the first point on the board, but couldn't find a rhythm the rest of the set. The Redbirds trailed the entire set and struggled to slow the Panther's offense and allowed them to post a .405 team hitting percentage compared to Illinois State's 0.28. UNI only committed two attack errors and recorded 10 more blocks to cap off a 25-9 first set win.
The tides changed in the second set and the Redbirds found an early lead with three kills from Rosch in four points, 4-2. The Panther's didn't give up easy and were able to get within one point, but a kill from Hranka, an ISU block and a service ace from Menendez extended the Redbirds' lead, 16-14. Northern Iowa posted a late five-point string, but Illinois State earned the final five-points of the set to capture a 25-23 victory.
After the intermission, the Redbirds jumped out to an early 3-1 lead with kills from Hranka and Rosch. UNI was able to battle back and regained the lead after compiling two strings of three-points and forcing Illinois State to call a timeout, 15-12. The Panther's continued to extend their lead and prevailed 25-15 in the third set.
Illinois State posted two kills from Early and Rosch, before UNI recorded six-straight points with the help of three kills from Krista DeGeest for a 9-4 lead. The Redbirds earned four points with Niao at the service line and, two ISU errors and a Panther service ace put UNI ahead, 16-11. Both teams continued to trade points, but Illinois State was unable to regain the advantage and fell 25-20 in the fourth set.
The Redbirds are back in action Friday, Oct. 26 when they will host Indiana State on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. Match time is set for 7 p.m.
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