NORMAL, Ill. – In a back-and-forth battle for the right to play for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title, the host Illinois State volleyball team came up just short against Northern Iowa in a four-set decision. UNI won by scores of 25-20, 24-26, 25-22, 25-15.
No. 2 seed Northern Iowa (26-7) will face top-seeded Missouri State (27-5) in the MVC Tournament title match Saturday at 4 p.m. at Redbird Arena.
Illinois State (21-11) saw its tournament come to an end Friday despite strong performances from Juma Armando, who tallied a team-high 14 kills, and the duo of Jaelyn Keene and Ella Francis, who registered 13 kills apiece. Stef Jankiewicz dished out 44 assists and Courtney Pence led all players with 33 digs.
Illinois State will await its postseason fate on Sunday, as the announcement of the NCAA Tournament and National Invitational Volleyball Championship fields will begin at 8 p.m.
"I think if you are a Redbird fan and a volleyball fan, you enjoyed that match," Illinois State head coach Leah Johnson said after Friday's match. "It was hard-fought, it was strategic, and it was back-and-forth. There were some phenomenal rallies.
"But if you love the Redbirds and Illinois State, you've got nothing to hang your head about."
UNI never trailed in a close opening set, in which neither team led by more than three points until the closing moments. Illinois State tied the score three times in the first set, the final time at 16-16. But the Panthers answered with four-straight points to get to 20-16, and though the Redbirds got back within two points of the lead late, UNI scored the final three points, including the final two on back-to-back kills from Karlie Taylor.
A back-and-forth second set featured 12 tied scores and five lead changes. Illinois State scored six-straight points late to take a 23-17 lead, but UNI answered with three straight to cut its deficit in half. Illinois State got to a set point, at 24-20, on a kill from Francis, only to see the Panthers fight off four-straight set points and tie the score at 24-24. The Redbirds responded, however, with back-to-back kills from Keene to send the match to the break evened up.
UNI grabbed back control in the third as the Panthers scored the first four points in the set. Although Illinois State fought back to tie the score six times in the set, the Redbirds never led as the Panthers took a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Panthers rode the momentum into the fourth set. UNI's Piper Thomas tallied seven kills in the final set, and finished the game with 28 kills and no errors on 47 attempts, good enough for a .596 hitting percentage.
Tickets for Saturday's championship match Missouri State and Northern Iowa are available online at GoRedbirds.com/Tickets, by calling (309) 438-8000, or by visiting the ticket office, located at the north entrance to Redbird Arena.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
