MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Illinois State volleyball team opened the Panther Invitational with a five-set loss to St. Thomas (4-4, 0-0 Summit League) before falling Friday evening to Milwaukee (4-4, 0-0 Horizon) in five sets.
The Redbirds are now 0-3 in five-set matches and 3-6 overall on the season.
Match 1 (Illinois State v. St. Thomas)
Illinois State falls to St. Thomas in five sets: 9-25, 25-16, 22-25, 25-20, 6-15
Set 1
St. Thomas was first on the board, but ISU made it 4-2 after a bad set by the Tommies. Out of a timeout, the Redbirds scored the first two points but were unable to close the gap as St. Thomas' .500 attacking percentage was too much and carried them to a 25-9 win in the opening frame.
Set 2
After trailing early, Illinois State maintained a steady lead after going on a 6-0 scoring run to force a St. Thomas timeout with a 13-8 lead. The Tommies would trim the margin to four before the Redbirds answered with a 3-0 scoring run to pull ahead 17-10. The Redbirds' offense hit .385 in the set, taking set two by a final of 25-16.
Set 3
The Tommies and Redbirds went back-and-forth to begin set three as the teams went point-for-point into the media timeout with St. Thomas ahead 15-13. Back-to-back Redbird kills led to a St. Thomas timeout as the Tommies led 19-17. After being tied 20-20, St. Thomas would close the set on a 5-2 run for the 25-22 third-set win.
Set 4
With the score tied 5-5, St. Thomas went on a 4-0 scoring run to force an ISU timeout at  9-6. Illinois State responded with a 6-0 run of their own, including back-to-back kills from freshman Ruth Ziegler, for a 13-11 lead. After calling their second timeout of the set, the Redbirds pulled ahead in the closing moments, forcing a decisive set five with a 25-20 win in set four.
Set 5
St. Thomas started the final set off with a pair of 3-0 runs to grab the 1-6 lead. Illinois State inched to within three, but the Tommies pulled away to take set five 15-6 and claim match victory.
ILLINOIS STATE STATS LEADERS (vs St. Thomas)
Kills: Ruth Ziegler (17)
Digs: Sammi Bunch (14)
Assists: Mekaila Aupiu (40)
Service Aces: Aida Shadewald (4)
Total Blocks: Maggie McCrary (2)
ILLINOIS STATE NOTES (vs St. Thomas)
- Illinois State (.190) was outhit by St. Thomas (.307)
- Ziegler set a new career high with 17 kills on 37 swings
- Four Redbirds finished with double-digit digs (Bunch, Shadewald, Aupiu, Lauren Salata)
- Shadewald tallied her fourth double-double of the season with 13 kills and 11 digs
Match 2 (Illinois State v. Milwaukee)
Illinois State falls to Milwaukee in five sets: 25-21, 25-22, 20-25, 18-25, 7-15
Set 1
Illinois State was first on the board as the Redbirds built an early 5-1 lead. Illinois State never surrendered the lead over the remainder of the set, as the Birds saw Milwaukee narrow the margin to as little as one, but it would not be enough as Illinois State closed on a 4-1 scoring run to take the 25-21 win in set one.
Set 2
Set two would be one of runs after Illinois State took a 6-4 lead. Milwaukee rattled off an 4-0 scoring run to go ahead 8-6 before it was a 3-0 scoring run for Illinois State to lead 9-8. After trailing 10-9, Milwaukee compiled another 4-0 scoring run to force an ISU timeout at 13-10. Out of the timeout, ISU tied the score at 14-14 with a 4-0 scoring run. The two sides would continue going back-and-forth, but it was a 3-0 scoring run out of a timeout for ISU to take set two, 25-22. Set two had four lead changes and 10 ties.
Set 3
Milwaukee scored first in set three and would build as big a lead as four to force a Redbirds timeout at 11-7. Back-to-back kills from freshman Oliwia Caputa trimmed the Panthers lead to three, forcing Milwaukee to call timeout at 15-12. The Redbirds would trail by only one before the Panthers went on a 4-0 scoring run to force an Illinois State timeout at 19-14. The Redbirds narrowed the margin down to one once again, but it was Milwaukee taking set three, 25-20.
Set 4
Milwaukee continued their momentum, leading by as many as six to force a Redbird timeout at 9-3. Out of the break, Illinois State put together a 4-1 scoring run to force a Panthers timeout at 10-7. However, the Panthers kept the pressure on ISU as the set went on, pushing the lead to 17-12 and forcing the second timeout from ISU of the set. ISU forced the final timeout by Milwaukee after trimming the lead to 20-17. The Panthers would finish the set on a 5-1 run to take set four, 25-18, and force a decisive set five.
Set 5
After the final set started off with three ties, Milwaukee would go on a 5-2 scoring run to make it 8-5 as the set hit the media timeout. The Panthers would lead the rest of the way, taking set five 15-7 and claiming match victory.
ILLINOIS STATE STATS LEADERS (vs Milwaukee)
Kills: Aida Shadewald (21)
Digs: Sammi Bunch (26)
Assists: Mekaila Aupiu (47)
Service Aces: Sammi Bunch (2)
Total Blocks: Logan Grevengoed (4)
ILLINOIS STATE NOTES (vs Milwaukee)
- Illinois State (.154) was outhit by Milwaukee (.211)
- Shadewald tallied her fifth double-double of 2024 (21 kills and 21 digs)
- Freshman Khenedi Guest matched a career high with 12 kills
- Bunch set a career high with 26 digs
- Aupiu set a new career high in assists with 47
UP NEXT
Illinois State concludes the Panther Invitational with a matchup against Iowa on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. CT. Saturday's match is available to watch via Milwaukee's YouTube page.
For all the 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:  Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
