NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State volleyball team won its third match in two days to complete a perfect weekend at the Country Financial Redbird Classic Saturday with a 3-1 win over Toledo in the final match of the tournament. The Redbirds won the match by scores of 25-13, 25-19, 18-25, 25-15.
Illinois State claimed the team title and Ashley Rosch was named the Tournament MVP, while Illinois State's Lexi Varga and Jaelyn Keene also earned all-tournament team honors.
Varga and Rosch led the Redbirds with 15 kills apiece against Toledo, while Aly Dawson chipped in 13. Jacqueline Twing dished out 40 assists for the second match in a row, and Courtney Pence led all players with 21 digs.
Illinois State (7-2) used a nine-point run early in the first set to build momentum, and turned a 3-3 tie into a 12-3 lead. The Redbirds then matched the Rockets point-for-point the rest of the way to take the first set.
The Redbirds and Rockets traded points early in the second set. Illinois State eventually built six-point lead, at 20-14, after a kill from Ali Line, and won the set moments later with a kill from Varga followed by a Toledo error.
Toledo (1-8) led for much of the third set and built its biggest lead of the match at seven points, en route to handing the Redbirds their only set loss of the tournament.
Illinois State bounced back in the fourth set, however, and used a 7-1 run midway through the set to pull away. The Redbirds finished off the match with a kill from Rosch.
IUPUI (7-4) took second place at the tournament with two wins. Youngstown State (5-6) took third with one win. Toledo took fourth. IUPUI's Courtney Halter and Logan Walling were all-tournament team selections, as were Youngstown State's Val Jeffery and Toledo's Carly Townsend.
Illinois State will return to action Tuesday at Illinois-Chicago with a 6 p.m. match. Links for live video, audio and stats for the match can be found at GoRedbirds.com, and fans can receive live updates from the matches via Twitter, by following @RedbirdVB.
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