NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State volleyball team needed career nights from key players to overcome a 0-2 deficit against Drake Saturday night at Redbird Arena.
Big nights from Ashley Rosch, Kaitlyn Early and Eliza Smith helped the Redbirds rebound from dropping the first two sets, however, as ISU rallied back to win in five sets, 20-25, 23-25, 25-16, 25-18, 15-6.
Rosch tallied a career-high 23 kills in the match, besting her previous mark of 22, while Early dished out a career-best 64 assists, topping her previous best of 59. Smith matched her career-high with 11 kills, while playing error-free and leading the team with a .393 hitting percentage.
Jaelyn Keene added 14 kills and a match-high eight blocks. Emily Orrick recorded 35 digs, just one shy of her career high. So did Sierra Burris, who tallied 19 digs. Emily Schneider added 10 kills, including three in the fifth set.
Drake never trailed in the first set and built a lead that reached as many as six points. The Redbirds cut it to three late, at 23-20, but back-to-back kills from Makena Schoene and Kyla Inderski helped the Bulldogs win the set.
Illinois State (15-5, 9-0 MVC) built a 10-point lead in the second set, only to see the visitors go on a 10-1 run to cut the lead to a single point. With the score knotted up at 23-23, Drake (9-11, 1-8 MVC) once again scored the final two points to claim the set.
The Redbirds started to turn things around in the third set. Rosch tallied 10 of her kills in the set as the Redbirds never trailed.
The fourth set was close early on, but the Redbirds used a five-point binge to take control at 18-10. The Bulldogs came back to within four points at 21-17, but Stacey Niao finished off the set with a kill on set point.
The Redbirds played their best set of the match in the fifth sit. The Redbirds hit .458 in the set as Rosch and Schneider tallied three kills apiece. Niao recorded eight digs in the set and Early sealed the win with a kill on match point, her seventh of the match.
Illinois State finished with a .211 hitting percentage, while Drake ended with a .115 mark. The Redbirds led in blocks, 13-10, while Drake had the upper hand in aces, 5-3.
The win was the 11th in a row for the Redbirds, who have not lost since Sept. 12. ISU leads the Missouri Valley Conference, and has now claimed a win over every team in the league through its first nine league matches.
The Redbirds are back on the road next weekend, as they travel to Evansville on Friday, Oct. 24, and Southern Illinois on Saturday, Oct. 25.
Both matches, and all Redbird matches this season, can be heard live online at: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/isu/.
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