NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State volleyball team (11-11, 7-3 MVC) completed the 2021 season sweep of UNI, beating the Panthers (8-14, 3-6 MVC) in three sets (25-22, 25-21, 25-19) to pick up their fourth-straight match victory. Tonight's win over UNI marked Illinois State's third-straight win and 30th victory all-time over the Panthers.
HOW IT HAPPENED
In a set that saw 13 ties, a late run that featured three points by sophomore middle blocker Nicole Lund would be key to ISU's set one win. In Illinois State's late 4-0 run that would put the 'Birds up 23-20, Lund contributed a solo block, a kill and a block assist, giving ISU the momentum to close out the first set. The freshmen duo of Aliyah Moore and Katelyn Lefler put the first set to its end with Lefler assisting the Moore kill for the 25-22 win.
Illinois State took the early advantage in set two, leading 6-2 after UNI started the set off with a pair of errors. The Panthers would go on to outscore the 'Birds 6-1 midway through the set to take a 13-10 lead, but that would be their largest lead of the night as two late 3-0 runs by ISU would lift them ahead in the 25-21 set two victory.
The Redbirds dominated the third set growing the lead to as large as nine more than once in what would be the final set. Despite a late 5-0 run by the Panthers that would narrow their deficit to four, Illinois State was able to secure the 25-19 win, with another set ending with a kill from Moore with the assist from Lefler.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Sophomore Tamara Otene has registered at least 10 kills in every single Missouri Valley Conference match this season, including 11-game streak with 10+ kills. She has 19 total double-digit kill performances on the year after finishing with a game-high 16 against the Panthers.
- Hitting .444 against UNI, Otene's hitting percentage marks the third time this season and first time in conference play that she has hit .400 or better.
- Freshman setter Katelyn Lefler reached a major career milestone against the Panthers, reaching 500 career assists in her first season playing for the 'Birds. With 17 assists tonight, Lefler has exactly 500 assists in her career, which is the sixth-most ever by a Redbird freshman.
- For the 20th time in 22 games, Kaity Weimerskirch has finished with at least 10 digs, finishing with 16 against Northern Iowa.
- Of Illinois State's 11 blocks on the night, sophomore middle blocker Nicole Lund played a part in seven of them, finishing with six block assists and one solo block.
QUOTE FROM HEAD COACH LEAH JOHNSON
On the difference between the first match vs. UNI to now:
"I think both teams looked different. I think UNI was much improved. They (UNI) were steadier from the passing line, and they were putting more pressure on us from the service line so I was really pleased to see how we responded. The other thing I really liked is, the first time we played them this game looked like sets three and four (from the first match with UNI) where it was tight a long way and we folded. Here, it was tight the whole time and we stayed in our grind and we stayed in our side out battle. I thought that was really awesome."
QUOTE FROM SOPHOMORE MIDDLE BLOCKER NICOLE LUND
On her improved offense:
"(I'm) just working back into it. I have to rebuild that trust with my setters. Each practice they come in and they give me that confidence and that's honestly what I look for. That's just how our practices go, we point to each other."
On Illinois State's four-game winning streak and what it can be attributed to:
"I think we're just attacking each practice with a different mindset. This is the second half of conference and we know that each game is going to be a battle in a different way. We switched our mindset in practice and it's been a lot more intense."
UP NEXT
The Redbirds will be back in action tomorrow night, Saturday, October 23, when they host Drake at 7 p.m. inside Redbird Arena.
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.
