NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State volleyball ended the Redbird Classic on a high note, topping Missouri in four sets (26-24, 22-25, 25-18, 25-18) on the final day of the two-day tournament at Redbird Arena.
The Redbirds improve to 4-8 after a tough non-conference schedule and head into Missouri Valley Conference play with some momentum from today's win over Mizzou (3-10).
Illinois State battled back and forth to win their first set, while in the final two sets they were able to get the lead early and never relinquish it. The ISU duo of Sarah Kushner (15) and Tamara Otene (10) led the Redbirds offensively in the win with the pair each finishing with double-digit kills against the Tigers. Kushner also finished with 16 digs, marking the seventh time this season that she's finished with a double-double.
In their final game of the tournament, the 'Birds made great improvements in both their serving and blocking finishing with eight service aces today and matching their season-high of 12 blocks.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH LEAH JOHNSON
On today's win and Carley Nicholson stepping up:
"There's a few things that I'm very proud of today and one is Carley (Nicholson) and her fellow setter. We've been running three setters for about three weeks now because we've been battling a couple of injuries. To be thrown into that situation yesterday – and she had been preparing for it – it wasn't like she wasn't ready to go, but it's different when you get the call and she just stepped in and was flawless and confident and aggressive. It wasn't just her setting; it was her defense and her serving game and just her flow on the court was very composed. My favorite part is the text that I got from Carley last night, saying 'I'm so fired up for tomorrow. I know you've got my back and I've got yours, let's go.' That's what I'm talking about. We're always looking out for each other. That's the Linda Herman standard and Carley gets it and does it. I had such a safe feeling about today."
On what she takes away from this non-conference season:
"That the score is 0-0, that's what I take away. I know that sounds silly because there are a lot of things on court, but that's why in pre-season I know our record, but I don't because it doesn't matter when you get to conference. We are such a team with potential and change and diversity in what we can do and how we can run our line-ups. We've had four freshmen play two positions each – there's so much to be had there. I go into this with a fresh start knowing I can say 'this is where we are, this is a new starting place.' I know that whenever we walk into a gym that there is a target on our back no matter what our pre-season record is and that's a different story. It's a different level of competition. It's a different focus."
QUOTE FROM CARLEY NICHOLSON:
On her confidence going into today's game:
"Confidence wise, Coach (Johnson) gives that to me every single day. We'll be going to team meetings, before games, before practice and the biggest thing that she stresses to us is to just go out and compete and to play hard. It doesn't really matter what happens at the end of the day as long as you compete and play hard throughout. Going in, I had been setting for about three weeks, but still it's different when you do get called in. I was ready. I was mentally prepared and just having that three weeks of getting my hands used to setting the ball again. Not only coach's confidence in me, but the rest of the team's confidence in me was huge. I probably wouldn't be able to do it without them. Honestly, I don't feel like I'm going to be perfect setting right now and I don't think anyone is, so just repping that out and feeling good about myself and coming back on Monday for more practice."
UP NEXT
The Redbirds will kick off Missouri Valley Conference next weekend when they play on Friday, September 24 at Drake. The match is set to begin at 6 p.m.
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