Redbirds Head to Illinois-Chicago for Mid-Week Match

NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State volleyball team will carry a seven-match winning streak into a 6 p.m. match at Illinois-Chicago Tuesday night at Flames Athletic Center.

Illinois State (7-2) will take on Illinois-Chicago (5-4) after going 3-0 and winning the tournament title at the Country Financial Redbird Classic over the weekend at Redbird Arena. Illinois State's Ashley Rosch was named Tournament MVP, while Jaelyn Keene and Lexi Varga earned all-tournament team honors. Varga was additionally named the Missouri Valley Conference's Freshman of the Week, the league announced Monday afternoon.

"We have a tough challenge in our final week of non-conference play with four road matches in five days," said Illinois State head coach Melissa Myers. "This will be a good opportunity for our team to make some improvements before the Valley schedule begins."

The mid-week match is one of only two on the Redbirds' schedule this season, and is the team's only non-conference match not part of a weekend tournament. The Redbirds will travel to play at the Flyer Invitational, hosted by Dayton, this weekend, Sept. 18-19. The matches at Dayton will mark the Redbirds' final non-conference matches of the regular season.

Illinois State owns a 20-8 all-time record against Illinois-Chicago, including four-straight wins. The Redbirds topped the Flames last year by a 3-0 score at Redbird Arena.

Illinois-Chicago has won at least one match at its three tournament stops early this season, including all three of its matches at the UIC Invitational, Sept. 4-5. The Flames most recently posted a 1-2 showing at the Butler All-American Classic this past weekend, falling to host Butler and Cincinnati, before rallying for a five-set win over Northern Iowa in their final match of the tournament.

Tuesday's match will be broadcast on ESPN3. Links for live video, audio and stats for the match can be found at GoRedbirds.com, and fans can receive live updates from the match via Twitter, by following @RedbirdVB.

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