DAYTON, Ohio – Illinois State volleyball (3-6) split a pair of matches in their final day at the Flyer-Raider Invitational, falling to Dayton (4-4) in the afternoon in three sets (13-25, 16-25, 19-25) before bouncing back to defeat Wright State (6-3) in five sets (25-27, 25-23, 18-25, 25-21, 15-11) on their home court.
MATCH 1 (Dayton wins, 3-0)
- Sophomore Tamara Otene had a game-high 12 kills, five of which came in the third and final frame.
- Junior Sarah Kushner served up three aces while adding four kills and two blocks.
- Dayton hit .342 on the match, including .500 in the second set. The Redbirds were held to -.034 hitting on the day. The Flyers also had a 40-27 advantage in kills and a 14-5 tilt in blocks.
MATCH 2 (Illinois State wins, 3-2)
- Kushner led the Redbird attack, recording a season-high 19 kills in the five-set affair. Otene (16), Nicole Lund (12) and Aliyah Moore (10) all finished in double-digit kills.
- Lund posted a team-high six blocks on the night in addition to her 12 kills.
- Freshman setter Katelyn Lefler had 54 assists, also recording four blocks and seven kills at a .400 hitting percentage.
- The Redbirds hit .191 compared to Wright State's .147 in the match, recording a match-high .333 hitting percentage in the second set victory. ISU also had a 71-52 advantage in kills.
QUOTE FROM HEAD COACH LEAH JOHNSON
"So great to end this weekend on a positive note and cannot be more proud of our team fighting through all five sets to come out on top against a quality program like Wright State. We're staying the course and growing together and I'm excited to ride this momentum into the Redbird Classic this weekend at Redbird Arena."
UP NEXT
Illinois State hosts the Redbird Classic at Redbird Arena next weekend (Sept. 17-18), as Illinois, Missouri and North Texas all make the trip to Normal. The 'Birds kickoff the tournament versus North Texas on Friday at 10 a.m. before playing Illinois that evening at 7 p.m. ISU concludes the tournament against Missouri at 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
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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