Career Night From Keene Leads Redbirds to First Win of 2015

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Jaelyn Keene turned in a career performance and the Illinois State volleyball team secured its first victory of the 2015 season with a 3-0 win over Florida A&M Saturday night at the Hurricane Invitational at James L. Knight Sports Complex. The Redbirds won by scores of 25-13, 25-19, 25-10.

Keene posted 16 kills and a .842 hitting percentage, the third-best hitting percentage in program history. Keene tallied her 16 kills on just 19 attempts, without committing an error.

Jordan Weatherless dished out a team-high 14 assists and Courtney Pence tallied 13 digs as head coach Melissa Myers used 14 players in the win.

"The team did a great job of starting strong and staying consistent in this match," Myers said. "Other than a few unforced errors in the second set, we were pretty efficient most of the match."

Illinois State (1-2) took control right from the start, scoring the first three points of the first set. Florida A&M (0-3) kept it close and trailed by just three points midway through the set until the Redbirds went on an 8-0 binge to make it 23-12. Kills from Keene and Rosch sealed the first-set victory for the Redbirds.

Illinois State fell into an early hole in the second set as the Rattlers grabbed a 9-2 lead. The Redbirds chipped away at the lead, eventually tying it at 13-13, and scored two points for every Florida A&M point the rest of the way to win the second set.  

The Redbirds continued to roll in the third set, shooting out to a 9-1 lead. Weatherless capped the win with a service ace, which was one of 10 for the Redbirds in the match.
 

Saturday afternoon's win marked the Redbirds' third match in a 24-hour stretch. Illinois State lost to host Miami by a 3-0 score Friday night, before suffering a 3-2 loss to Kansas State Saturday morning.

Illinois State returns to action next weekend at the Harvard Invitational, Sept. 4-5, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Redbirds' opponents there will be Long Beach State, Harvard and Rutgers.

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