NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State outside hitter Tamara Otene registered a career night in the Redbirds' five-set loss (21-25, 25-14, 21-25, 25-15, 12-15) to Indiana State, nailing a match-high and lifetime best 26 kills against the Sycamores. With the loss, the Redbirds' eight-match winning streak comes to an end as the team falls to 15-12 overall and 11-4 in Missouri Valley Conference play. Indiana State improves to 14-10 overall and 6-8 in league play.
Despite a slow start to set one with only four kills, Otene led all student-athletes in sets two, three and four with six, six and eight in the middle sets of the match. Combining for an impressive 26 kills on the night, Otene tied the MVC record for kills in a single match this season, joining Evansville's Alondra Vazquez (26 vs. Northern Kentucky, 9/11/21) as the only two Valley players with 26 kills in a match during the 2021 season. Those 26 kills mark the 23rd time this season Otene has finished the night with 10+ kills and the sixth time this year that she's had 20+ in a single match.
Three other Redbirds joined Otene with a double-figure effort offensively, including Sarah Kushner, Kaitlyn Prondzinski and Aliyah Moore. Kushner who finished with 12 kills and 13 digs added to her conference-leading double-double total, now with 17 on the season. Hitting a season-best .524, Prondzinski nailed 11 kills with no attacking errors, while Moore chipped in 10 kills.
Defensively, junior libero Kaity Weimerskirch and sophomore middle blocker Cassie Jordan led the 'Birds with 29 digs and five blocks, respectively.
As a team, the Redbirds dominated sets two and four, going on extensive runs to take leads that the Sycamores couldn't find answers for, but Indiana State was able to secure the close sets to hand the Redbirds their first loss in almost a month (since Oct. 9).
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH LEAH JOHNSON
On tonight's five-set battle:
"We've been on that long win streak of sets and that was great and obviously we wanted to continue, but sometimes when that happens and then you lose a set, it can make you question yourself for a hot minute and I think we did that, but we responded well each time in sets two and four by dominating. That's where it's challenging because we need to be better in the tight sets, the blowouts don't change the end score. Overall, I thought the team played with fight and I thought we stayed pretty mentally engaged and we worked hard. I thought Indiana State played really well – they ran the right side better than we've seen most teams all year. Their slide was effective, their middles were effective, and I think that was the difference in the match."
On Tamara Otene's career night:
"I think it's funny with Tam because she's so lowkey that you would wonder where that (energy) comes from, but it certainly comes. She put together 26 kills to tie the Valley kills record this season is phenomenal, especially because she had a pretty slow start. She didn't have a great start to the game. She did all of that as we went forward. Kudos to her for finding another gear because it was hard."
UP NEXT
The Illinois State volleyball team will hit the road next weekend for a pair of tough matches at Valparaiso and Loyola-Chicago on November 12 and 13. First serve for both matches is currently set for 6 p.m.
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