NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State volleyball team will open the Missouri Valley Conference portion of its schedule this Friday and Saturday as the Redbirds travel to play matches at Wichita State and Missouri State.
The Redbirds will play their first league match of the season Friday at Wichita State (6-4), before traveling to take on Missouri State (6-5) Saturday. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m. starts.
"Everyone understands that there is a sense of urgency once we begin conference play," said head coach Melissa Myers. "The preseason schedule was great preparation for us, but now that segment of our season is over and we're starting 0-0 in the MVC. It's an opportunity to start fresh, using lessons learned from the previous three weeks."
Illinois State (6-5) enters the first weekend of Valley play after posting a 2-1 record at the Colonials Challenge, hosted by George Washington, Sept. 12-13 in Washington, D.C. The Redbirds lost a five-set match to Baylor in their tournament opener, before taking a three-set win over Columbia and a four-set victory over host George Washington, the latter of which represented the 1,000th win in Illinois State volleyball history. Emily Schneider, Kaitlyn Early and Jaelyn Keene earned Colonials Challenge All-Tournament Team honors.
Friday's game at Wichita State will be the home opener for the Shockers, who have competed at the Bluegrass Battle in Lexington, Kentucky, the Delta Zeta Classic in San Marcos, Texas, and the Bluejay Invitational in Omaha, Nebraska.
Missouri State will host Indiana State in its conference opener on Friday night before the Redbirds visit on Saturday. The Bears have traveled to the Utah Classic in Salt Lake City, and the HotelRED Invitational, in Madison, Wisconsin, and hosted the University Plaza/Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational, early this season. Head coach Melissa Stokes recently earned the 400th win of her coaching career on Sept. 13.
Illinois State owns a 31-27 edge in the career series with Wichita State, while Missouri State has a 47-42 advantage in the series with the Redbirds.
Both Illinois State matches this weekend, and all Redbirds matches this season, can be heard live online at: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/isu/.
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