Volleyball Opens Season at Loyola Marymount Invitational

The Melissa Myers Show | Match Notes | Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats

NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State volleyball team will face a pair of top-25 teams when it opens its season this weekend at the Loyola Marymount Invitational in Los Angeles. The Redbirds will play No. 21 Loyola Marymount Friday, before taking on No. 12 UCLA and Niagara Saturday.

The season begins with an 8:30 p.m. CT match against the tournament host Friday. The Redbirds will play UCLA at 11:30 a.m. CT and Niagara at 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday.

Illinois State enters the season following a 22-10 showing in 2015, which marked the team's second-straight season with more than 20 wins. Illinois State had not posted back-to-back seasons of 20-plus wins since 1997-98.

The Redbirds, picked to finish fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference in a preseason poll of league coaches, figure to be led by junior middle blocker Jaelyn Keene, an MVC Preseason All-Conference selection for the second year in a row. Keene is a two-time All-MVC First-Team and American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Region pick through her first two collegiate seasons.

Keene will be joined by five other returning starters, as Illinois State brings back six of seven players who started a majority of the team's matches last fall. Also returning are: Ali Line, Courtney Pence, Jacqueline Twing, Aly Dawson and Lexi Varga. Line, Pence and Varga were MVC All-Freshman Team selections last year, while Line was named the Valley Freshman of the Year. Pence was additionally an All-MVC Second-Team selection.

Other key returners include: Ratasha Garbes, Annchara Montgomery, Jordan Weatherless, Elianna Lovejoy and Lexi Wallen. They will be joined by three newcomers: freshmen Ella Francis and Monica Miller, and transfer Megan Beutke.  

Illinois State has limited history against this weekend's opponents, having faced Loyola Marymount and UCLA just once each in program history, with both meetings occurring over 30 years ago. Illinois State has never faced Niagara.

After this weekend's matches, Illinois State will return home to host Saint Louis in its home opener Wednesday, Aug. 31, at Redbird Arena at 6 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets for home matches from the Illinois State Athletics Ticket Office, online at GoRedbirds.com/Tickets, in-person by visiting the ticket office at the north entrance to Redbird Arena, or by calling (309) 438-8000.

Links for live video, audio and stats for all of this weekend's matches can be found at GoRedbirds.com, and fans can follow @RedbirdVB on Twitter for live updates throughout the weekend.

GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.