NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Behind big nights from Caitlyn Little and Hannah Reichensperger, the Illinois State volleyball squad hit a season-high .305, as the Redbirds swept Belmont 25-18, 25-20, 25-21, giving the Bruins just their fourth loss of the season and second loss in MVC play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set (25-18): The teams opened back-and-forth at the beginning and were tied at six in the set before ISU followed with four consecutive points, and the visiting Birds would not trail again in the frame, running away with the seven-point set victory.
Second Set (25-20): The second set was tight throughout, and tied as late as 16 apiece, before the Redbirds scored the next five points, capped by a Hannah Reichensperger kill, and Belmont would only get as close as four points the rest of the way in the five-point Redbird win.
Third Set (25-21): ISU jumped ahead early, leading 5-1 through the first six points of the set, and despite Belmont climbing back into a tie at six, ISU would not trail again in the frame. The Redbird lead grew to as many as four points, as the visitors closed out the road sweep of the Bruins.
KEY STATISTICS
- Illinois State remained undefeated against Belmont in the series between the two schools, with the Redbirds now leading 6-0, winning 18-of-22 total sets in that span
- ISU hit a season-high .305 in the match, the Redbirds' first time hitting over .300 since the opening round of the MVC tournament last season against Missouri State (Nov. 24, 2024)
- Reichensperger tied for the match-high with ten kills on 13 attempts with no errors
- Her attack percentage of .769 is tied for the ninth-best single-match attack percentage in program history, as she is the first player to hit .769 or better since Jaelyn Keene hit .842 at Florida A&M on August 29, 2015 (16 kills, no errors, 19 attempts)
- She also tied for the team-high with four blocks
- Little tied for the team lead with 10 kills
- Tied a career-high with FOUR service aces, three in the first set
- Had double-digit kills for the fifth consecutive match, and leading or tying for the team lead in kills for the ninth time this season
- Also added six digs while hitting .227 for the match
- Khenedi Guest, the MVC leader in blocks per set, had a team-high-tying four in the match
- Guest also added nine kills, while hitting a season-high .562 in the match, topping her previous-best attack percentage of .533
- Ella Craggs gave out a match-high 33 assists for the Redbirds, while adding four digs and two blocks
- Aida Shadewald had six kills for the Redbirds, while digging up a match high nine Belmont kill attempts
- Arianna Rossi tied for the match-high with nine digs
- Ruth Ziegler had seven kills for ISU, her ninth match this season with seven-plus kills
NEXT UP
ISU will travel to Murray, Kentucky, tonight, ahead of a 1 p.m. battle with the Murray State Racers on Saturday afternoon with a 1 p.m. first serve.
