NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State volleyball team will look to keep I-74 rival Bradley out of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament by defeating the Braves at CEFCU Arena on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT.
SCHEDULE
-Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT vs Bradley (9-20, 5-12 in 2022) | WATCH | LIVE STATS
SPOILER ALERT!
Illinois State can ensure Bradley misses the MVC Tournament by beating the Braves. Bradley requires a win and a Missouri State loss to Southern Illinois to make the MVC Tournament.
THE LAST HURRAH
Seniors Sarah Kushner, Kendee Hilliard, and Kaity Weimerskirch will close their careers, playing in their final match on Wednesday. The seniors leave with an impressive three NCAA Tournament appearances.
FRESHMEN, FRESHMEN, FRESHMEN
Illinois State freshmen have been forced to play a bigger role than initially expected for the Redbirds in the 2022 season but have stepped up in recent matches. Freshmen have recorded 417 of the team's 547 kills (76.2%) in the last 11 matches. Freshmen have tallied more or the same number of kills than non-freshmen in the last 15 matches.
'BIRDS BEAT NO. 25 ILLINOIS
Illinois State defeated No. 25 Illinois on 9/17 in five sets. The Redbirds have now won back-to-back matches against ranked Illinois teams (9/13/2019). The 'Birds won against the Fighting Illini on a neutral court for the first time since 1980 (lost four-straight).
No other MVC team has a ranked win in 2022 (1-9).
MILESTONE WATCH 👀
Senior Sarah Kushner became the 17th Redbird to reach 1,000 career digs in 9/2/22's five-set victory over Green Bay. Kushner became the seventh Redbird to reach the 1,000 mark in both kills and digs. Kushner became the 22nd Redbird to reach 1,000 career kills at Indiana State on 9/24/22.
Senior Kaity Weimerskirch passed Mallory Leggett for fifth on the career digs list. Weimerskirch is at 1,743 digs entering 11/15/22.Weimerskirch would need a record-setting match to make the jump to fourth as Chris Rehor-Federico finished her Redbird career with 1,806 digs.
Junior Nora Janka became the 16th Redbird to reach 1,000 career assists on 11/4/22 vs UNI.
Sophomore Katelyn Lefler is on the verge of 1,000 career assists, too. Lefler is at 986 assists entering 11/16 and would be the 17th Redbird to reach the 1,000 assist mark.
5TH-SET COMEBACKS
Illinois State has a pair of improbable comeback wins in 2022, defeating Cincinnati (trailed 9-3 in fifth set) and Green Bay (trailed 7-2 in fifth set) in five-set thrillers, despite trailing after three sets.
NEW HEAD COACH
Allie Matters is in her first season at Illinois State after four seasons at Wright State. Matters is joined by Matt DePauw (previously at Central Michigan) and Hayden Wagner (previously at Cincinnati).
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