COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Illinois State volleyball team opened play at the Missouri Tiger Invitational with a win Friday, topping Oakland in a four-set match. ISU won by scores of 25-20, 23-25, 25-14, 25-22.
Jaelyn Keene led the Redbirds with team-high totals of 14 kills and 10 blocks, while recording a hitting percentage of .522. Ashley Rosch and Stacey Niao tallied 12 kills apiece, and Rosch led the Redbirds with three service aces. Kaitlyn Early dished out a match-high 48 assists and Emily Orrick had a match-best 15 digs.
The Redbirds (3-1) took the first set using a 4-0 run midway through the set after some early back-and-forth play, and eventually secured a 25-20 win on a Rosch kill. The Redbirds built an early lead in the second set, but Oakland (2-3) used a 9-2 run to take an 18-15 lead before winning the set, 25-23.
ISU never trailed in the third set. The Redbirds ran out to a 7-1 lead to force an Oakland timeout. Back-to-back aces from Niao extended the lead to 16-8 and forced another timeout. A kill from Annchara Montgomery sealed a 25-14 victory.
The fourth set featured five tied scores, the final at 8-8. Illinois State took the lead on the next point and never relinquished it. Key kills down the stretch from Keene and Niao helped the Redbirds to a 25-22 win in the fourth set.
ISU hit .299 as a team, while limiting Oakland to a .116 percentage. The Redbirds also tallied seven aces to Oakland's three, and held a 26-16 edge in blocks.
The Redbirds will play three more matches at the Tiger Invitational. ISU will take on host Missouri at 6:30 p.m. Friday, before playing matches against Xavier (12 p.m.) and Lipscomb (4 p.m.) on Saturday.
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