PULLMAN, Wash. – The Illinois State volleyball team (6-1) won by set scores of 25-13, 25-20 and 25-11 against Stony Brook (3-6) on Friday morning to open the Cougar Challenge, hosted by No. 23 Washington State, with its fourth-straight victory.
QUOTING COACH JOHNSON
Thoughts on overall performance…
"It took us a bit to get into a flow and I thought that Stony Brook did a great job with their scouting report on us. They forced us to change our game and make adjustments. I wouldn't say that our flow was ever great, but we took care of one of our goals, which was to earn our own points, which I thought we did."
On what adjustments will need to be made…
"We need to serve tougher. Serving was soft spot for us in this first match, and we are a very strong serving team, so we will look for the team to rebound quickly with those adjustments."
On what the team will have to do against WSU tonight…
"We need to be diverse. Our strength is to be balanced and diverse, which makes us hard to defend. That will be a key focus for us to be successful tonight."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1 >> A hitting error by Stony Brook forced the Seawolves to call a timeout with Illinois State leading, 8-3. As a team, the Redbirds were hitting .500 early on with a pair of kills by Ella Francis. Four-straight points out of the break gave the Redbirds a commanding 12-3 lead over Stony Brook. With Illinois State leading 16-7, the Seawolves burned their final timeout with the Redbirds hitting .400, compared to Stony Brook's .111. A pair of Ali Line's three service aces helped Illinois State close on a 9-6 run for a 25-13 opening-set win.
Set 2 >> Stony Brook and Illinois State went back-and-forth to open the second set. Francis' sixth kill of the match pushed the Redbirds ahead of the Seawolves for the first time in the second set, accounting for three of Illinois State's four early kills. The Seawolves continued to chip away at Illinois State's lead, before a 3-0 scoring run by Stony Brook knotted the set at 14-all. With Stony Brook ahead, 20-19, Illinois State called a timeout, before the Redbirds closed on a 6-0 run to secure the second set, 25-20.
Set 3 >> The Redbirds went on a 4-0 scoring run at the beginning of the third set to hold a 9-5 advantage over the Seawolves. Marissa Stockman's seventh kill, followed by Monica Miller's fourth, forced Stony Brook to call a timeout with Illinois State ahead, 12-7. Out of the break, the Redbirds jumped out to their largest lead of the set – six points – before an attack error helped the Seawolves regain possession. A service error in the following point put the ball back in the Redbirds' hands. With Illinois State leading 19-10, Stony Brook used a timeout, as the Redbirds closed the match on a 6-1 run to secure their fourth-straight win.
LEADING THE FLOCK
STAT OF THE MATCH
- With Illinois State's three-set victory against Stony Brook, the Redbirds have now swept three of their last four opponents and four of their seven opponents this season – the most since the 2015 season.
UP NEXT
Illinois State will continue the Cougar Challenge tonight against tournament host No. 23 Washington State. The Redbirds and the Cougars are set to square off at 9:30 p.m. CT. Illinois State will conclude its third tournament of the 2018 season tomorrow at 12 p.m. CT against McNeese.
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