Box Score
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Illinois State volleyball team came back twice but couldn't muster a third rally as the Redbirds fell to Rice in five sets at the Tiger Invitational Saturday morning at the Hearnes Center. Rice won by scores of 25-17, 17-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-13.
Illinois State won the second and fourth sets, evening the match with both set victories. Rice used a six-point binge early in the fifth set, turning a three-point deficit into a three-point lead and Rice's Chelsey Harris tallied seven of her match-high 18 kills in the fifth as the Owls closed out the win.
Ali Line led the Redbirds with a team-high and career-high 16 kills. Jaelyn Keene and Ella Francis added 14 kills apiece; Francis' kill total marked a career high as well. Jacqueline Twing dished out 40 assists, while Courtney Pence registered a match-high 22 digs.
Both teams made runs early in the first set. ISU scored four-straight points to go up 4-1, but Rice came back with a 7-2 run to take a lead it would not relent the rest of the set. Key kills down the stretch from Portia Okafor and Shelby Livingstone helped the Owls grab an early lead in the match.
Illinois State rebounded in the second set. The Redbirds started strong, scoring four of the first five points in the set, and finished strong, closing out the set on a 7-1 run that featured kills from Keene, Lexi Wallen and Lexi Varga.
A very close third set appeared turning in the Redbirds' favor when Illinois State took a 17-16 lead late, but Rice ended the set on a 9-4 run, capping the tie-breaking third set with a kill from setter Madison McDaniel.
Illinois State led wire-to-wire in the fourth set, although the Owls trimmed an early six-point Illinois State down to just one point. The Redbirds finished strong, though, with Line registering the team's final three kills to force a fifth set.
The Redbirds scored the first three points of the fifth set to prompt a Rice timeout, but the Owls came back with a 7-1 run that gave Rice the lead for good. Harris tallied three kills during the 7-1 binge and later provided the match-winner with her seventh kill of the set.
The Redbirds return to action Saturday afternoon at the Tiger Invitational with a final match against Utah at 4 p.m. Links for live audio and stats are available at GoRedbirds.com, and fans can follow @RedbirdVB on Twitter for live updates.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
