NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State volleyball team (2-1, 1-0 MVC) picked up right where it left off on Monday, sweeping the visiting Bradley Braves (0-1, 0-1 MVC) in its Missouri Valley Conference opener. The Redbirds out-blocked the Braves, 13-3, as redshirt freshman Nicole Lund led the way with 10.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1 >> Illinois State's blocking set the tone from the beginning, as freshman duo Lund and Kaitlyn Prondzinski teamed up on the outside. The Redbirds jumped out to and early lead, before Bradley knotted it at six apiece. A service ace by Jessica D'Ambrose pushed ISU back out in front, as the Redbirds went on a 4-0 scoring run heading into the media timeout, leading 15-12. The Braves crawled their way back, forcing ISU to call a timeout with the score leveled at 17-all. Out of the break, a pair of blocks and kills from Sarah Kushner and Stef Jankiewicz sealed the opening frame, 25-20.
Set 2 >> The Redbirds trailed early in the second set, before back-to-back Bradley attacking errors pushed ISU back out in front. A solo block from Kushner helped ISU old a three-point advantage – the Redbirds' largest of the set. A pair of service aces from D'Ambrose and Kaity Weimerskirch forced Bradley to call a timeout, sitting at an 17-11 deficit. The Braves struggled from behind the service line, as they committed a pair errors in the final stretch of the second set, handing ISU the 25-18 win.
Set 3 >> Illinois State turned it up a notch in the deciding set, opening on a 5-2 run behind kills from Prondzinski and Kaylee Martin, as well as an ace by Kushner. At the midway point of the set, Sydney Holt's eighth kill pushed the Redbirds ahead by one heading into the media timeout. Out of the break, Carley Nicholson subbed into the match and delivered the team's fifth service ace to push ISU out to a 17-14 advantage. Bradley used its final timeout with ISU's 12th block, again by Lund and Prondzinski, as the Redbirds sealed the final set, 25-17, with Kushner's sixth and final kill of the night.
LEADING THE FLOCK
QUOTING COACH JOHNSON
On freshmen blockers…
"Yes, Nicole (Lund) and Kaitlyn (Prondzinski). You may not know this, but they played club ball together in high school. Their relationship runs much deeper than the last six months. I look forward to four years of that at the net. I can give either of them hard feedback. Once you get on the starting court, I'm going to coach you really hard. I'm not going to hold back, im going to tell you how it is. It takes a freshman, or a first-time starter, a minute to get used to it. That's the responsibility of the role and so I think both are handling that well and that bodes well for the future."
On advantages and disadvantages of having matches under our belt and Bradley playing its first match…
"I went back-and-forth with this in my head during scheduling. I knew they (Bradley) weren't playing the first weekend and would have full scout film on us. They had eight sets and we played almost every point of every set. We're also coming in with a one-day rest, which after that tough of a match at that high level, we're still tired. I don't want to take away anything from how hard we played and how well they (Bradley) played. The advantage was we had a little bit more flow on our side of the net, but the disadvantage was that they had a plan for us and we had not even seen them yet. They have a lot of new players, so we could only prep for a couple people. We focused all set one of being really good at absorbing information and then making adjustments."
UP NEXT
Illinois State is set to host Cincinnati, who is currently receiving votes in the AVCA Top-25 Poll, this weekend at Redbird Arena. In accordance with state and local guidelines, fans are currently not allowed to be in attendance at home ISU Athletics events.
Game dates, opponents, times and locations are subject to change. To view Illinois State's full schedule and find ways to follow the match, visit GoRedbirds.com.
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
