HARRISONBURG, Va. – Illinois State volleyball (0-3) fell to James Madison (2-1) in four sets (22-25, 25-23, 19-25, 16-25) on Saturday evening to close out their season-opening weekend at the JMU Invitational.
Junior Sarah Kushner led the team with 10 kills, also recording her second double-double of the season with 15 digs. Sophomore Tamara Otene and junior Kendee Hilliard each contributed nine kills with sophomore Kaitlyn Prondzinski adding eight of her own.
Sophomore Nicole Lund had seven kills while also leading the 'Birds with five blocks.
ISU started out in strong fashion, earning the first three points of the match before JMU went on a 6-1 run that would it up at 10-10. The Dukes would go on a 3-0 run of their own to make it 13-10 and then maintained their lead, never allowing the 'Birds to tie or take the lead for the rest of the opening set.
A slow start to the second set saw the Redbirds trail 8-3 after burning both their timeouts. The turning point came at the 13-15 mark, when ISU went on a 7-1 run (which included aces by Kaity Weimerskirch and Katelyn Lefler) to take a three-point lead at 19-16. The Dukes came back to tie it three times in the final plays of the second frame, the last of which occurred at 23-all, before ISU scored consecutive points to claim the set, 25-23.
A back-and-forth third set saw three ties but the 'Birds were never able to gain the advantage. Otene had five of her nine kills in the third frame that also featured an ace by Carley Nicholson.
Aliyah Moore was a spark off the bench for the Redbirds in the fourth set, recording five kills off seven attempts for a .714 hitting percentage. JMU led for the entirety of the frame, earning the last three points to seal the match, 25-19.
STAT LEADERS
QUOTE FROM HEAD COACH LEAH JOHNSON
"This was a tough weekend but we've learned a lot and know the things we need to work on. We're a young team and there will be growing pains but it's important to be tested early and often and we played an excellent field of opponents. I'm proud of our team for staying in the process and battling all weekend and am looking forward to playing in front of our fans at the Red and White Invitational in the coming week."
UP NEXT
ISU welcomes Ohio, UIC and Marquette to Redbird Arena for the Red and White Invitational this coming weekend. The Redbirds take on Ohio in their home opener on Friday at 4:30 p.m. See the schedule page for more information on this weekend's games.
For all latest on Illinois State volleyball, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com and follow the team at @RedbirdVB (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram).
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