NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State volleyball topped a feisty Cincinnati squad in a five-set match that came down to a wire in the Redbird Classic finale Saturday at Redbird Arena. Illinois State won by scores of 25-14, 25-21, 24-26, 22-25, 16-14.
Illinois State, Dayton and Seton Hall all posted records of 2-1 in the round-robin tournament, but Dayton was declared the tournament champion based on set differential percentage. Illinois State took second, followed by Seton Hall and Cincinnati.
Illinois State (4-5) had two representatives on the all-tournament team in Jaelyn Keene and Juma Armando. They were joined by Cincinnati's Carly Nolan, Seton Hall's Abby Thelen, and Dayton's Jane Emmenecker, Margo Wolf and Amber Erhahon, who was named the Tournament MVP.
Keene led Illinois State in its win over Dayton, registering a match-high 21 kills and a career-high 10 blocks. Lexi Wallen and Armando added 14 and 15 kills, respectively. Stef Jankiewicz dished out a match-high 57 assists.
Courtney Pence led all players with 28 digs. Lexi Varga set a career high with 22 digs, as did Jankiewicz, who collected 19. Â
Saturday night's win over Cincinnati in five sets came hours after the Redbirds dropped a five-set marathon to Seton Hall.
"It was a grind, but it was a pleasant grind because we have to keep getting better," said Illinois State head coach Leah Johnson. "To be put in tough moments, that's the (Missouri Valley Conference) every single night, so we're getting our players that experience."
Illinois State shot out to an early 6-0 lead and never trailed in the first set. The Redbirds hit .467 in the opening set and never let Cincinnati score more than three points in a row. Keene tallied seven kills and three blocks in the set, which ended on a kill from Varga.
A close second set saw 11 tied scores and four lead changes. The last lead change came when Illinois State strung together five-straight points to grab a 23-19 lead. Two quick points from the Bearcats cut the lead back to two, but back-to-back kills from Keene and Wallen made it a 2-0 lead for the Redbirds. Â
Illinois State grabbed an early 7-2 lead in the third set, but the Bearcats came roaring back. After slowly chipping away at the Redbird lead, Cincinnati tied it up at 14-14, and then pushed ahead to an 18-15 lead after four-straight points. The teams traded points late, and Illinois State fought off one Cincinnati set point with a kill from Wallen, but the Bearcats scored the next two points to claim the set.
Cincinnati continued its comeback in the fourth set as it overcame another early Redbird lead. Illinois State sprinted out to a 7-1 lead early on, but the Bearcats used a five-point binge to tie it up at 18-18. The Redbirds forged ahead to 21-20, but Cincinnati scored five of the next six points to send the match to a fifth set.
The fifth set proved to be the closest of the night, with seven lead changes and 11 tied scores. Each team went on a three-point run midway through the set to prompt a timeout. The Bearcats later used another three-point rally to go ahead at 11-9. Illinois State fought back and got to a match point at 14-13 with a kill from Keene, but Cincinnati tied it at 14-all on the next point. Keene gave the Redbirds another match point with her final kill of the night, but Illinois State cashed in this time as Ali Line and Armando teamed up for a block.
The Redbirds are back in action Tuesday at Northern Illinois. Links for live stats and video are available at GoRedbirds.com, and fans can follow @RedbirdVB on Twitter for live updates and more.
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