NORMAL, Ill. – From championships to academic honors and everything in between, the Illinois State volleyball program has a lot to be proud of following the fall 2021 season. Here are 21 things Redbird volleyball is proud of heading into 2022:
- Reverse Sweep for a Third-Straight MVC Tournament Championship
After dropping the first two sets to top-seeded Loyola Chicago, the Redbirds completed a reverse sweep in the Missouri Valley Conference Championship match to win their third-consecutive MVC Tournament title. The Redbirds became the first team to win back-to-back-to-back titles since UNI in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and improved to a perfect 7-0 in Valley title matches played at home. The last time Illinois State had won three in a row was when the Redbirds won four-straight in 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1985.
- AVCA North Region Coach of the Year: Head Coach Leah Johnson
Head Coach Leah Johnson earned her first career American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Regional Coach of the Year honor after guiding the conference's youngest team to a third-straight MVC Tournament title and a fourth-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
- AVCA and VolleyballMag.com All-America Honorable Mention: Tamara Otene
Tamara Otene earned Redbird Volleyball's eighth American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America honor in program history, picking up Honorable Mention status after earned All-Region honors in the AVCA North Region prior. As an AVCA All-America Honorable Mention selection, Otene joins a group of five other Redbirds who have been selected to the Honorable Mention team, including Jolene (Jordan) Hoover (1985), Kaitlyn Early (2014), Jaelyn Keene (2014), Emily Orrick (2014) and Courtney Pence (2017, 2018). Julie (Mueller) Paska is the only Redbird to date to earn honors beyond Honorable Mention, earning Second Team All-America status in 1984. Otene is the second Redbird to be selected to an All-America Team during the Leah Johnson era and first since Pence earned back-to-back honors in 2017 and 2018.
- MVC Player of the Year: Tamara Otene
After a dominating performance throughout Missouri Valley Conference play, Otene, became the eighth Redbird in school history and first since 2014 to be named the MVC Player of the Year. Otene, a sophomore, finished with 305 kills in conference action, averaging 4.49 kills and 5.00 points per set.
- MVC Libero of the Year: Kaity Weimerskirch
Junior captain Kaity Weimerskirch became the fifth Redbird to earn the title of MVC Libero of the Year, finishing conference play with 334 digs and averaging 4.91 digs per set. Weimerskirch's award marks the seventh Libero of the Year honor for Illinois State, after Emily Orrick and Courtney Pence each earned the honor twice during their careers.
- Three All-MVC First Team Selections
Both Otene and Weimerskirch were locks for a spot on the All-MVC First Team after earning specialty awards, but they weren't the only Redbirds to make an appearance on the list. Junior outside hitter Sarah Kushner earned First Team honors, after ending the regular season tied for a conference-leading 18 double-doubles, 11 of which came during MVC action. This season was each student-athlete's first time on the All-MVC First Team.
- One MVC All-Freshman Team Selection
Aliyah Moore became the second-straight Redbird to earn a spot on the MVC All-Freshman Team after Nicole Lund was selected to the team following the 2020-21 regular season. Moore finished her debut season for the 'Birds with 142 kills during conference play, averaging 2.09 kills/set in MVC matches. The Surprise, Arizona native, also posted a six-match streak with 10 kills or more during Valley action.
- Fourth-Straight NCAA Tournament Appearance
The 'Birds made their 17th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history after earning an auto-bid by winning the MVC Tournament. Illinois State has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last four seasons, meaning that no student-athlete on the current roster has been a part of an ISU team that didn't make the NCAA Tournament. This season's bid marked the first time that the Redbirds have made the NCAA Tournament four years in a row since 1982-1985.
- Two MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team Selections
The junior duo of Sarah Kushner and Kaity Weimerskirch were selected to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete First Team for the their efforts in the classroom and on the court. The selection to the MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team marks the first for both Kushner and Weimerskirch after Kushner earned a spot on the Honorable Mention Scholar-Athlete Team following the spring 2020-21 season. Kushner, a Public Health major, and Weimerskirch, a Psychology major, both have maintained 4.0 GPAs while at Illinois State.
- Two CoSIDA All-District First Team Selections
Kushner and Weimerskirch were also named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District® Women's Volleyball Team for the first time in their careers. The honor recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom.
- 1,000 Career Digs: Kaity Weimerskirch
In a five-set victory over Valparaiso, Kaity Weimerskirch recorded the exact number of digs needed to achieve 1,000-career digs, becoming the 16th Redbird in school history to reach 1,000 career digs. Weimerskirch finished the 2021 season with 611 digs, ranking fifth all-time in school history for digs in a single season. Currently with 1,237 career digs, Weimerskirch ranks 11th on the Illinois State career digs list.
- Sophomore Single Season Kills Record
Closing out the 2021 season at the NCAA Tournament with eight kills against sixth-seeded Purdue, Tamara Otene tied the sophomore single season kills record, finishing with 494 in her breakout season. Her record-tying number of kills matches Cathy Olson's 494 kills during the 1982 season.
- Coach Johnson's 100th Win as a Redbird
Illinois State's eighth-straight win, a victory over Evansville in three sets, was Head Coach Leah Johnson's 100th match win as the head coach at Illinois State. Johnson reached 100 wins in just 150 matches, which is tied for the third-fastest Illinois State head coach to reach 100 wins. Only ISU Hall of Famer Linda Herman and Sandy Lynn have reached 100 wins faster, while Johnson joined ISU Hall of Famer Julie Morgan in reaching 100 wins in 150 matches.
- Winning Streak
Illinois State's streak started by handing Loyola Chicago its first MVC loss of the season in a four-set victory at Redbird Arena. The 'Birds also picked up wins against Valparaiso (3-2) and in Peoria at Bradley (3-2) where their 17-set winning streak would begin. Following the five-set win at Bradley where ISU won the final two sets, the Redbirds swept their next five matches in three-sets. Illinois State's streak of 17 set wins is tied for the fifth-most consecutive set wins in school history and the most set wins in a row since 2014 when ISU won 20 straight.
- Our Seniors
The Redbirds celebrated its four seniors, Paige Hilliard, Leigha Malecha, Carley Nicholson and manager Karl Rosch following their 3-0 win over Bradley to close out the regular season and clinch the No. 2 seed in the MVC Tournament. These four seniors were a large part of ISU's team culture and will be greatly missed for their efforts supporting the Redbird volleyball program.
- Our Growth
After a 4-8 start to the season and a 3-3 start in conference play, the youngest team in the Valley responded to finish second in the regular season, win their third-straight MVC Tournament title and post Illinois State's 12th-consecutive winning season.
- Linda Herman Title IX Celebration
Illinois State Athletics officially kicked off its celebration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX with the unveiling of a banner at Redbird Arena for trailblazer and longtime coach/administrator Dr. Linda Herman during ISU volleyball's match against Illinois. This match drew Illinois State volleyball's largest crowd of the season and was just the start of the year-long celebration.
- NCAA Rankings
The Redbirds were not only one of the best teams in the conference statistically, they also ranked among the best teams in the nation in multiple categories throughout the season, including kills, assists, blocks and digs. At one point in the season, the Redbirds ranked as high as second in the NCAA in total kills. As a team, Illinois State finished the 2021 season, ranked seventh in the NCAA for assists, ninth for kills, 11th for total attacks, 12th for total blocks and 28th for digs.
- MVC Tournament MVP
Kaitlyn Prondzinski earned the first conference honor of her collegiate career, being named the MVC Tournament Most Valuable Player after combining for 28 kills and seven block assists in ISU's two matches. The sophomore from Rochester, Minnesota, recorded a career-best 20 kills in the championship match against Loyola, including the final match-winning kill, for her first 20-kill effort as a Redbird. In the semifinal match versus Indiana State, Prondzinski hit an impressive .467 clip.
- MVC All-Tournament Team
Joining MVP, Prondzinski, on the Missouri Valley Conference All-Tournament Team, were sophomores Tamara Otene and Nicole Lund. The MVC Player of the Year, Otene, combined for 29 kills and seven blocks, while Lund finished with 13 kills and 16 blocks over the two matches. Additionally, Kaity Weimerskirch was named the recipient of the Elite 17 Award to wrap up the awards received by the Redbirds at the MVC Tournament.
- Redbird Record Book
The Redbirds made jumps into the Illinois State volleyball record book both individually and as a team following the 2021 season. ISU's hitting percentage of .444 against Evansville on November 5 was the fourth-best clip ever by a Redbird team at Redbird Arena and the best since the school record of a .536 hitting percentage was set in 2016. As a group the 'Birds are now tied for the fifth-most blocks in a Redbird Arena match, finishing with 18 against Valparaiso on October 16. Additionally, the Redbirds' 97 points against Valparaiso (10/16) are the third-most recorded in Redbird Arena all-time and the most since the school record of 110 was set in 2007 against UNI. Illinois State finished the 2021 campaign by jumping into the single season top-20 for five categories, ranking t-19th in school history in team attack percentage (.215), 10th for team blocks (312), t-ninth for team block assists (494), 20th for team digs (1,917) and 15th for team set assists (1,587). Individually, numerous Redbirds made appearances in the record book for the first time for season, career and class numbers.
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