NORMAL, Ill. - In front of an impressive crowd of 3,257 fans on Friday at Redbird Arena, the Illinois State volleyball program fell in four sets to Valparaiso (14-2) in a match eerily similar to its Missouri Valley Conference-opening loss at Evansville.
The Redbirds (8-6) struggled in the first set before rallying to win the second set. Illinois State could not get anything going as the 'Birds scored a mere 39 points in the last two sets.
Freshman Emily Weber posted a career-high 26 assists and 13 digs for her first career double-double while senior Kaity Weimerskirch had 24 digs. Freshman Regan Haith tallied six blocks.
SET SCORES
Illinois State falls to Valparaiso (1-3): 14-25, 25-17, 16-25, 13-25
ILLINOIS STATE STATS LEADERS
Kills: Kaitlyn Prondzinski (17)
Digs: Kaity Weimerskirch (24)
Assists: Emily Weber (26)
Service Aces: Emily Weber (1)
Total Blocks: Regan Haith (6)
ILLINOIS STATE NOTES
-Illinois State (.067) was outhit by Valparaiso (.160)
-3,257 fans are the most by an MVC school since the Redbirds drew 3,850 fans against Illinois on 9/13/19 (home matches only)
-3,257 fans more than doubles the next closest total by an MVC school in 2022 (1,563 with UNI hosting Grand Canyon on 9/10/22 being the next closet) ... (home matches only)
-3,257 fans are the most by a current MVC school against a mid-major since UNI drew 3,772 against Indiana State on 11/8/14.
-3,257 fans are the 14th-most for Illinois State in program history (home matches only)
-3,257 fans are the 59th-most in MVC history (matches at MVC schools only)
UP NEXT
Illinois State will host new MVC member UIC on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. CT at Redbird Arena.
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