NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State volleyball team will host Evansville Friday and Southern Illinois Saturday inside Redbird Arena. Both matches are set for 7 p.m. starts. Illinois State (13-6, 3-3) sits in seventh place in the MVC standings and will look to make up ground on the rest of the Valley this weekend.
Evansville (7-13, 1-5) is coming off back-to-back losses to Wichita State and Southern Illinois. Southern Illinois (13-6, 4-2) is on a good stretch, winning four of its last five conference matches.Â
ISU's junior transfer from Iowa Western, Aly Dawson, has played some of her best volleyball of the season in MVC matches. Dawson is coming off a career night at Bradley, Oct. 10, where she posted a career-high .667 hitting percentage with 12 kills and no errors. Dawson has recorded double-digit kills in five of ISU's six conference matches, and she has scored 10-plus kills in five-consecutive Valley contests.
The Redbirds return home to Redbird Arena where they have won 16-straight matches. This season the Redbirds are 5-0 at home and 2-0 against Valley opponents. The Redbirds haven't lost a home a match at Redbird Arena since November 14, 2013.
The Purple Aces sit in ninth place in the MVC and are first up Friday. Despite the slow 1-5 start in Valley play, Evansville boasts one of the best attackers in the MVC in Miranda Genesis. Genesis is currently second in the MVC in kills averaging 4.21 per set. The Salukis are in front of the Redbirds in the standings with a record of 4-2. SIU is coming off a pair of wins last week. The Salukis handed Missouri State its first conference loss, after defeating the Bears in five sets on Oct. 5. Then, the Salukis dispatched Evansville in four sets Saturday, Oct. 10. The Salukis rank second in blocks per set (2.47) and are third in hitting percentage (.255).
Illinois State has owned the all-time series with both of this weekend's opponents. The Redbirds are 39-3 all-time against Evansville, and have won the last nine contests dating back to November 2010. In 2014, ISU didn't drop a set to Evansville, the Redbirds swept the Purple Aces in both matches. ISU also has a firm grip on the all-time series with Southern Illinois owning a 70-8 advantage. The Redbirds won both matches against the Salukis in 2014.
Links for live stats and live audio from both matches can be found at GoRedbirds.com, and fans can receive live updates from the matches via Twitter, by following @RedbirdVB.
GoRedbirds.com:Â Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.ÂÂÂÂ
