NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State volleyball team, who is riding a seven-match and 14-set winning streak, will look to add to the win column again this weekend as they host Evansville and Indiana State on Friday, November 5 and Saturday, November 6. First serve for both matches is slated for 6 p.m. inside Redbird Arena.
HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
vs. Evansville | WATCH | LIVE STATS
vs. Indiana State | WATCH | LIVE STATS
AROUND THE ARENA
Illinois State volleyball is hosting Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night on Friday, November 5 against the Evansville Purple Aces. All Illinois State University faculty and are invited to cheer on the Redbirds and can claim a $5 ticket by showing their Redbird ID card upon arrival. ISU Athletics will honor the faculty and staff and the work that they do each day to help students achieve academic excellence. Throughout the match, the volleyball team's MVP professors will be recognized for their impact on the student-athletes. As always, Head Coach Leah Johnson will be holding a Chalk Talk pre-match in the Legends Room beginning at 5:30 p.m.
LAST TIME AGAINST EVANSVILLE
Illinois State volleyball fell in three sets to the Evansville Purple Aces earlier this season at the Meeks Family Fieldhouse. With the loss, the Redbirds fell to 7-11 on the year and 3-3 in Missouri Valley Conference play. The Redbirds were led by freshman Aliyah Moore who finished the night with 12 kills on a .611 hitting percentage.
LAST TIME AGAINST INDIANA STATE
A complete and efficient offensive effort by the Illinois State volleyball team, lifted the squad to a 3-1 victory over Indiana State earlier this season. The Redbirds, who with this win have won back-to-back matches, improved to 7-10 on the year and 3-2 in Missouri Valley Conference play. A balanced offensive effort, that featured three Redbirds with double figures in the kills category, was key in Illinois State's four-set victory (25-22, 23-25, 25-20, 25-19) over the Sycamores. Sophomore Tamara Otene recorded a match-high 21 kills on a .326 hitting percentage to lead the charge for ISU's trio. With 21 kills, Otene tied her four-set career-best and posts 20+ kills for the fourth time this season, including the third time in the last four games.
SCOUTING THE PURPLE ACES
After going 0-2 last weekend against Valparaiso and Loyola-Chicago, ending a six-match winning streak, the Purple Aces were able to bounce back against Southern Illinois with a 3-1 victory over the Salukis. During conference play, Evansville is hitting a league-best .279 with 602 total kills (13.68/set). As a team, UE leads the Valley with 78 service aces (1.77/set). The Purple Aces are led by Melanie Feliciano and Giulia Cardona who have 178 kills (4.05/set) and 177 kills (4.02/set), respectively. The duo trails only Redbird sophomore Tamara Otene in kills per set in Valley play. Feliciano has the second-best hitting percentage in the MVC, hitting .360 in league play, while Cardona leads the conference in service aces with 23 (0.52/set). Taya Haffner leads the Valley in assists per set with an average of 10.80.
SCOUTING THE SYCAMORES
The Sycamores are coming off a pair of wins over Valparaiso and Missouri State. Indiana State picked up their fourth sweep of the season and second during conference play, topping the Bears in three sets on Monday. With a conference leading 16.70 digs per set, the Sycamores are led by Melina Tedrow who has an MVC best 4.95 digs/set during league play. Like the Purple Aces, Indiana State is a solid serving team, averaging 1.50 service aces per set, the second most in the Valley. Reigning MVC Defensive Player of the Week Kylie Newby is another player to look for, hitting .292 and averaging 1.02 blocks per set to rank eighth in the conference in both categories.
KILLIN' IT
Illinois State not only ranks at the top of the Missouri Valley Conference in multiple statistical categories, but the Redbirds are also one of the best teams in the nation offensively. The 'Birds have the seventh-most kills in all of the NCAA with 1,295 so far this season. ISU also ranks No. 8 in the NCAA for team assists with 1,113 and No. 13 for total team attacks with 3,248.
OTENE OUTSTANDING
Sophomore Tamara Otene continues be an offensive force for the 'Birds, leading Illinois State, the Valley and the NCAA as one of the top-20 offensive players in the nation. Combining for 23 kills (3.83 kills/set) in ISU's two sweeps over Southern Illinois and Missouri State, Otene has led the Redbirds to four-straight three-set wins, seven-straight match wins and 14-straight set wins. In ISU's win over the Bears, Otene notched her fourth double-double effort of the season, including three during MVC play, finishing with 16 kills and 11 digs, just one dig shy of her career best. She also added a career-best three assists and one service ace against MSU. Against the Salukis, Otene hit .313, for her ninth hitting percentage above .300 this season and seventh during league play. The Auckland, New Zealand native has dominated conference play, leading the Valley in total kills (212), kills per set (4.33), total points (236) and points per set (4.82). She is the only player in the MVC to have more than 200 kills during conference play and ranks 21st in the NCAA for total kills. In 21 of Illinois State's 25 matches this season, Otene has recorded a double-figure effort in kills, including all but one conference match.
REDBIRD WINNING STREAK
The Illinois State volleyball team handed Loyola-Chicago their first Missouri Valley Conference loss of the season, topping the Ramblers in four sets to kickstart a seven-match winning streak. With that win, the Redbirds won their 12th-straight match against the Ramblers. The Redbirds have since won seven-straight games, including nine of their last 10 matches. Illinois State, who had not previously won at Bradley's Renaissance Coliseum since 2017, took down the Braves in five sets to snap a three-game losing streak in Peoria and win their third-straight game in one week. The win over Bradley marked Head Coach Leah Johnson's first win at Renaissance Coliseum since her first season at ISU. With a five-set win over Bradley and four three-set wins over UNI, Drake, Southern Illinois and Missouri State the Redbirds have won 14-straight sets heading into this weekend's home matches against Evansville and Indiana State. Since losing to the Redbirds, both Loyola-Chicago and Bradley have not lost a match since with the Ramblers on a six-game winning streak and the Braves having won the last four.
ROAD TO 100 WINS AT ISU
In only her fifth season at the helm of the Illinois State volleyball program, Head Coach Leah Johnson is approaching her 100th victory as a Redbird. Johnson needs just one more win to reach the milestone even with a shortened season in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since taking over as ISU's head coach in 2017, Johnson has coached the 'Birds to three 20+ win seasons, three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, two MVC Tournament titles and three MVC regular season titles.
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