MADISON, Wis. – The Illinois State volleyball team rallied back from an 0-2 deficit to score its first win in the NCAA Tournament since 1996 Thursday as the Redbirds took a 3-2 decision over Marquette at the UW Field House on the campus of the University of Wisconsin. The Redbirds won by scores of 23-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-13.
The win marked just the third NCAA Tournament victory in Illinois State volleyball history, and the program's first away from Redbird Arena. The win also helped the Redbirds extend their school-record winning streak to 23 matches, which ranks as the second-longest active streak in Division I.
Illinois State (27-5) will now play the winner of Wisconsin (28-2) and Western Michigan (22-13), who played Thursday night after the Redbirds' match with Marquette (24-9). Wisconsin is the No. 4 overall national seed in the NCAA Tournament, and was ranked No. 2 nationally in the latest AVCA Coaches' Poll.
The Redbirds were propelled by a career night from Jaelyn Keene Thursday, as the freshman middle hitter recorded a career-high 19 kills. Eliza Smith, Stacey Niao and Ashley Rosch all reached double figures in kills as well, with 10, 11 and 12, respectively.
Kaitlyn Early dished out a match-high 52 assists while matching a career high with eight kills. Emily Orrick added a match-high 29 digs and career-best eight assists. Rosch set a new career high with 23 digs.
Marquette won a back-and-forth first set that featured 12 tied scores and six lead changes. The Golden Eagles took the lead for the final time, using a three-point run to go ahead, at 20-17. A kill from Rosch tied things up at 23-23 moments later, but Marquette scored the next two points to win the set.
The Golden Eagles never trailed in the second set. They used a 5-1 rally to break a 7-7 tie, and later used a six-point binge to pull away. The Redbirds never came closer than five points of the lead the rest of the way.
The Redbirds got one back in the third set. Marquette led by three points at 15-12 before ISU scored eight of the next nine points. Illinois State got to a set point on a kill from Annchara Montgomery and, after Marquette ran off four quick points, the Redbirds finished off the set on a Rosch kill.
ISU forced a fifth set with an impressive finish to the fourth set. With the score knotted up at 20-20, Smith and Keene provided key kills down the stretch to help the Redbirds even the match.
Marquette took control early in the fifth set, taking a 10-5 lead. The Redbirds scored the next six points, however, with timely kills coming from Niao and Smith. With the score tied up at 13-13, a kill from Niao gave the Redbirds a match point, and Rosch cashed it in with her 12th kill of the match.
Links to live video and live stats for Friday's match are available at: http://www.uwbadgers.com/sports/w-volley/ncaa-vb-all-access-2014.html. In addition to the live video, live audio from Friday's match, and all Illinois State matches this season, is available at: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/isu/.
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