NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State volleyball team extended its win streak to nine matches on Saturday evening, sweeping Indiana State inside CEFCU Arena.
For the fourth time in the last matches, sophomore Aida Shadewald led the Redbirds in kills on Saturday, finishing with 13 kills off a .243 hitting clip against the Sycamores.
Sophomore Hannah Reichensperger and senior Cassie Jordan contributed eight and six kills of their own on Saturday, respectively, as the two finished error-free on the night.
Sophomore Emily Weber notched her 16th straight match with at least 20 assists on Saturday, finishing the evening with a match high 30. This is the 14th match this season in which Weber has notched at least 30+ assists (including in eight MVC matches).
Graduate student Mari Hinkle was all over the court on Saturday night as the Rosemount, Minn. native dug a match high 25 balls against the Sycamores. Hinkle now has dug 20+ balls for the 'Birds in eight matches this season.Â
For the second straight evening, the Redbirds would battle point-for-point in sets one and two before pulling away in the third set to claim their sixth sweep in MVC play this season.
Illinois State saw the lead grow out to 11 early on in set three (12-1 ILS) before the Sycamores scored their second set point. Afterwards, it was the Redbirds winning seven of the next nine points to lead 19-4 later in set three. ILS would put the match away after the visitors scored their fifth point, ending the match on a 6-0 scoring run to claim the win.
Illinois State improves to 11-12 overall and 9-2 in MVC play while the Sycamores drop to 3-18 overall and 1-10 in MVC play.
SET SCORES
Illinois State sweeps Indiana State (3-0): 25-23, 25-15, 25-5
ILLINOIS STATE STATS LEADERS
Kills: Aida Shadewald (13)
Digs: Mari Hinkle (25)
Assists: Emily Weber (30)
Service Aces: Mari Hinkle/Aida Shadewald (2)
Total Blocks:Â Emily Weber (7)
ILLINOIS STATE NOTES
- Illinois State (.288) outhit Indiana State (.016)
- Illinois State extends their win streak to nine straight for the first time since 2021 when the Redbirds won nine straight from March 14 – April 3.
- Illinois State completed the sweep over Indiana State with a 20-point victory in set three (25-5). The 20-point margin is the largest set point differential in an ISU home match win since 10/19/2018 when ILS outscored Southern Illinois 25-8 in the third set of a sweep over the Salukis.
UP NEXT
Illinois State will hit the road next weekend to Iowa as the Redbirds travel to play UNI on Oct. 27 before facing Drake on Oct. 28.
For all latest on Illinois State volleyball, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App:Â Â Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
