NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State volleyball team handed Loyola-Chicago their first Missouri Valley Conference loss of the season, topping the Ramblers in four sets (26-24, 17-25, 25-19, 25-23) on Friday night inside Redbird Arena. The 'Birds have now won 12-straight against the Ramblers and with that win, improve to 8-11 on the season and 4-3 in MVC play, while the Ramblers fall to 13-4 and 6-1 in league play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Illinois State led for the majority of set one before the Ramblers tied it up at 18 after going on a 5-1 run. The end of set was a back-and-forth battle between the two teams, but despite trailing 20-22, the 'Birds finished the set on a 6-2 run, sealing the set victory with a pair of kills from freshman Aliyah Moore.
The Ramblers were able to settle into a rhythm in set two, going on a series of runs that the Redbirds couldn't match throughout the second set, giving Loyola-Chicago the set two win.
The 'Birds found their groove offensively in set three, scoring in eight unanswered points that featured consecutive kills from Kaitlyn Prondzinski and gave ISU its largest lead of the set. Loyola-Chicago tried to fight its way back in the match, coming within five, but a Sarah Kushner kill put the set to rest and gave the Redbirds the 2-1 advantage heading into set four.
In what would be the final set of the night, Illinois State jumped out to an early 10-4 lead after going on a 6-2 run. Loyola-Chicago would not go away without a fight though, battling back to take an 18-17 lead late in the game. The 'Birds and the Ramblers traded points back and forth until Kushner put an end to the match with back-to-back kills, snapping Loyola-Chicago's six game winning streak.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Kaity Weimerskirch posted her 11th 20+ dig performance of the season, finishing with 25 on the night. With her 25 digs tonight, Weimerskirch is now just 26 digs from 1,000 in her ISU career.
- One of four Redbirds with double-digit kills against the Ramblers, sophomore Tamara Otene led ISU offensively with 12 kills. Otene has registered at least 10 kills in every single Missouri Valley Conference match this season, including eight-game streak with 10+ kills. She has 16 total on the year.
- A trio of Redbirds all finished the night with 10 kills, including Sarah Kushner who joins Otene with an eight-game streak of recording at least 10 kills.
- Freshman Aliyah Moore posted 10 kills, marking the sixth-straight match with double-digit kills. She's finished with at least 10 in all but one Valley contest.
- Kaitlyn Prondzinski rounded out Illinois State's quartet of student-athletes with 10 kills, posting double-digits in the kills category for the fourth time this year.
QUOTE FROM HEAD COACH LEAH JOHNSON
On the confidence this win gives the Redbirds:
"I do think confidence is the key. It really started this week in practice when we returned our players that had been out this week. The whole concept this week was to be more competitive. I didn't feel like we were fighting like a team that was fighting for something and that's not our standard. We're going to fight win or lose, and we saw that fight tonight. Otherwise, there is no way we beat that team. They were prepared, the executed, they adjusted as the match went on. I was really pleased with our performance and our grit."
UP NEXT
The Redbirds will return to Redbird Arena tomorrow night, Saturday, October 16, when they take on Valparaiso at 7 p.m.
For all latest on Illinois State volleyball, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
