NORMAL, Ill. – After taking the first two sets (25-22, 25-23), Illinois State volleyball (3-7, 0-0 MVC) dropped the next three sets falling 2-3 to North Texas in the first match of the weekend at the Redbird Classic.
The 'Birds got off to a strong start picking up the first two sets before dropping the final three closely contested sets.
Offensively, the Redbirds had four players reach double-digits in kills and hit .335 as a team. Nicole Lund (19), Tamara Otene (18), Sarah Kushner (18) and Aliyah Moore (11) all recorded 10+ kills to lead the charge. Despite a solid day offensively, the Redbirds struggled to stop UNT in the final three sets. Rhett Robinson who finished with a career-best 32 kills (.438), led the Mean Green in the victory.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Nicole Lund finished with a career-best 19 kills, hitting .514 percent.
- Katelyn Leffler notched a career-high 61 assists.
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH LEAH JOHNSON
On the positive takeaways from this match:
"Our offense is clicking, and we know that offensively that we can be a team that competes with anyone. Defensively, we need to be better at stopping our opponent, especially after 20. I do think that we were better situationally there each match. I'll state the obvious, it's hard to win when you miss that many serves, especially when it comes in bunches and you lose flow, you lose momentum. They (North Texas) were passing it well. They were in system and we missed. I thought Nic (Nicole Lund) had a heck of a night, 19 kills, hit .514, one error. That's over 50 percent kills, that's phenomenal."
On resetting quickly for tonight's match"
"Failure fuels. That's how you reset. If we're not fired up to do something better, I'm not sure what else is going to fire us up. It's got to be what drives us – we're going to have more failures. Believe me, we had losses that we won in years' past. People just don't know them because the scorebook doesn't show them. We know what they are. We can also successfully lose, but only if it fuels us."
On the four players with double-digit kills:
"It's hard, because we know we can put the ball away. You flip the script three years ago and the same team that won a championship in a year that started like this, we were the other way around, we couldn't buy a kill, but we could defend anyone."
QUOTES FROM SOPHOMORE MIDDLE BLOCKER NICOLE LUND
On what was working well between her and Katelyn Lefler today:
"We have a great connection between the two of us and we've been working on that a lot in practice. I think that trust is so important because even when she is off the net, I know she's going to set me when she needs to. I think that's the most important part – that trust between us."
REMAINING SCHEDULE
Friday, September 17
Illinois vs. Missouri, 12 p.m.
Missouri vs. North Texas, 5 p.m.
Illinois State vs. Illinois, 7 p.m.
Saturday, September 18
Illinois vs. North Texas, 11 a.m.
Illinois State vs. Missouri, 2 p.m.
UP NEXT
The Redbirds will look to take the advantage in the all-time series tonight (currently tied at 30-30) against their in-state rival, Illinois, tonight at 7 p.m. inside Redbird Arena. Illinois State will honor Dr. Linda Herman who served the ISU Athletics Department for 30 years as both an administrator and coach by unveiling a banner at Redbird Arena prior to the match.
Before Friday's match vs. Illinois, Illinois State students can pick up the Shirt-tember giveaway at the table located at the North entrance of Redbird Arena. ISU staff will begin giving out shirts at 5:45 p.m. with 250 shirts available.
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
