ATHENS, Ga. – The Illinois State volleyball team (2-1) never gave up in Saturday night's Benson Hospitality Invitational finale against the tournament host Georgia Bulldogs (3-0). The Redbirds leveled the match at one-all in the second set, but were unable to overcome the Bulldogs in the final two sets, falling 3-1.
Courtney Pence and Stef Jankiewicz were named to the seven-person all-tournament team for their performances during the season-opening invitational.
QUOTING COACH JOHNSON
Thoughts on the weekend overall…
"I thought every match this weekend, we controlled the serve-and-pass game. During the Georgia match, both teams battled back-and-forth, but they had the upper hand late in the game. We played incredible volleyball all weekend, especially defensively. Courtney (Pence) and Kendal (Meier) really stepped up for us, Stef (Jankiewicz) had us hitting positive and Monica (Miller) was playing dominantly. We attacked at the net and the middle offense was aggressive, and we were really solid all across the board."
On what she learned about her team this weekend…
"We are a really steady team. We were dialed in and resilient, and that was something I already knew, but it was something we reiterated all weekend and that will take us a long way."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1 >> An Ella Francis kill brought some life into the Redbirds, starting a 3-0 scoring run, after Georgia charged ahead of Illinois State. Back-to-back kills by Ali Line brought Illinois State within four points, but the Bulldogs jumped out to a six-point advantage – their largest of the set. Francis registered two more kills, bringing the Redbirds within two and forcing Georgia to burn a timeout. A hitting error by Georgia knotted the game at 21-all, before the Bulldogs sealed the opening set, 25-23, on an Illinois State serving error.
Set 2 >> A pair of kills from Monica Miller, and a kill from Kaylee Martin, gave the Redbirds their first advantage of the match. An 11-3 lead by Illinois State forced Georgia to take its final timeout of the set, as the Redbirds were hitting .400 with nine kills from Francis. The Redbirds held a 20-10 lead, before Martin's fifth kill of the match highlighted Illinois State's 25-16 set win to level the game at one-set apiece.
Set 3 >> The Redbirds had a hard time finding their groove to start the third set, as Georgia jumped out to a 5-0 lead to begin its surge. Three-straight kills by Martin on a 4-0 scoring run by Illinois State made it a 14-9 game, as the Redbirds continued to fight. Back-to-back kills by Line helped keep Illinois State alive with Georgia sitting at set-point, but the Bulldogs took the 2-1 advantage in the match with a 25-15 third-set win.
Set 4 >> Illinois State settled in and knotted the set at seven-all with Alyssa Kronberg's second service ace of the match. The back-and-forth battle continued, as the Redbirds never trailed by more than three points in the set until Georgia pushed ahead for a 14-10 lead. The Bulldogs pulled away for a 19-12 advantage, and secured the match with a 25-16 set win over Illinois State, taking the match, 3-1.
LEADING THE FLOCK
- Ella Francis finished the match with a team-high 13 kills for a four-set career best.
- Courtney Pence led all players in the match with 34 digs.
- Monica Miller hit .258 to lead the Redbirds, notching 10 kills in the match.
UP NEXT
Illinois State is set to continue its season next weekend at the Top Dawg Challenge, hosted by Butler, in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Redbirds will open the tournament on Friday afternoon against Eastern Illinois, before playing a pair of matches against Auburn and Butler on Saturday.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
