SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – After taking the first set by a score of 25-19 on the road Saturday night, the Illinois State volleyball team (16-12, 9-7 MVC) could not hold off league-leading Missouri State (23-7, 14-2 MVC) as the Bears won the final three sets by scores of 25-16, 25-15 and 25-19 to come away with a four-set win at the Hammons Student Center.
Jaelyn Keene and Aly Dawson each tallied 11 kills for the Redbirds, with Ella Francis adding nine and Lexi Varga finishing with eight. Courtney Pence recorded 29 kills on the defensive side, and Jordan Weatherless tallied 22 assists for ISU. The Redbirds were unable to overcome Missouri State's talented star, Lily Johnson, who tallied 18 kills in the win for the Bears.
"We had a great start in the first set tonight, with strong serving and attacking," said Illinois State head coach Melissa Myers. "Missouri State is always a battle, though, and they were able to get leads in each of the next three sets that we were unable to overcome. Courtney was exceptional tonight, making some incredible plays and saves. We just need to continue to work on our overall consistency as a team and build from there."
The two teams battled back and forth to start the first set, with neither team taking more than a two-point lead until an ace by Jacqueline Twing put the Redbirds up 11-8. Missouri State closed the gap back to one point at 13-12 on a kill by Johnson, before four-straight points for the Redbirds extended the lead to 17-12.  A kill by Dawson and an attack error by the Bears would then extend the lead to seven points at 21-14, and a kill by Francis would eventually give ISU a first-set win at 25-19.
Missouri State jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the second set, before the Redbirds fought back to within four points at 14-10 after a kill by Francis. A service ace by Tatum Marshall helped the Bears extend their advantage back out to 21-12 and they would not look back, as they came way with a 25-16 win in set two to even the match at one set apiece. A hard-fought third set saw the score go to an 11-11 tie, but the Bears ripped off eight-straight points to take a 19-11 lead. A pair of kills by Francis would trim the Missouri State advantage to 21-13, but the Bears would go on to close out the third set by a score of 25-15 to take the 2-1 advantage in the match.Â
Illinois State came out with a lot of energy in the fourth set, with Keene recording two kills and picking up another point on a solo block to stake the Redbirds to a 4-1 lead. A kill by Ali Line maintained a two-point advantage for the Redbirds at 7-5, however the Bears ripped off four-straight points to take a 9-7 advantage. The lead would then grow to 12-8, but a key block by Francis and Keene forced the Bears to call a timeout as their lead was trimmed to 13-11. Missouri State rallied to score five of the next six points to take an 18-12 lead, but once again the Redbirds clawed back and trimmed the Bears' lead to 22-18. However, the Bears would hold on and took the fourth set 25-19 to win the match.
The Redbirds return to action Friday, Nov. 18, when they host Northern Iowa at Redbird Arena at 7 p.m. Links for live video, audio and stats are available at GoRedbirds.com, and fans can follow @RedbirdVB on Twitter for live updates and more.
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