WICHITA, Kan. – The Illinois State volleyball team scored a 3-0 win over defending Missouri Valley Conference champion Wichita State in both teams' league opener Friday at Charles Koch Arena. The Redbirds won by scores of 25-21, 25-22, 25-19.
Jaelyn Keene paced the Redbirds with a match-high 11 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Ashley Rosch and Emily Schneider added eight and nine kills, respectively, while Kaitlyn Early dished out a match-high 37 assists and Emily Orrick tallied a match-high 23 digs.
Illinois State (7-5, 1-0 MVC) won a tight opening set as neither team held a lead of more than two points until a three-point run gave the Redbirds a 17-14 advantage. ISU maintained that margin the rest of the way and won the set with back-to-back kills from Rosch and Schneider.
Wichita State (6-6, 0-1 MVC) led for much of the second set but the Redbirds tied things up at 20-20 with a kill from Keene, and scored the final three points of the set on a Stacey Niao ace and two Keene kills.
The Redbirds ran out to an 8-0 lead in the third set only to see the Shockers battle back to tie things up at 13-13. A pair of kills from Keene put the Redbirds back in control, however, and key kills down the stretch from Niao and Early helped the Redbirds finish the match in the third set.
The Redbirds are back in action Saturday night at Missouri State. The match begins at 7 p.m. and can be heard live online at: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/isu/.
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