CHICAGO, Ill. - The Illinois State volleyball squad has won five of its last six matches heading into the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference tournament, which opens on Wednesday with the Redbirds' battle at UIC in a 2 p.m. first serve.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
November 19 - 2 p.m. - at UIC - STATS | WATCH
TOURNAMENT TIDBITS
• Illinois State is 44-28 all-time in MVC Tournament Games
• The Redbirds are 16-2 all-time against No. 4 seeds in the MVC Tournament
• The upcoming meeting between the Redbirds and the Flames are the first meeting between the two schools in a MVC Tournament setting
.300 IN A ROW
Since 1996, there have been 18 times - including ISU's earlier streak of three in a row - that the Illinois State Redbird volleyball team has had at least two consecutive matches hitting above .300. The longest streak over the last 28 seasons was in 2003 when the team had four consecutive games hitting above .300, as the team's streak came to an end when it hit .273 against Indiana State on November 8.
FINDING BALANCE
Illinois State sophomore Khenedi Guest ranks inside of the top-25 in attack percentage (11th), kills per set (25th), and blocks per set (fifth). In all, her rankings in those three categories add to 41. She is one of just ten players in the MVC to rank inside of the top-30 in all three categories, and her aggregate rank between the three categories is the third-best among those nine.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
On November 17, Illinois State senior libero Arianna Rossi was been named the Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week after her performances against Valparaiso and UIC, as her 52 digs on the week were the eighth-most in the NCAA during the span. Rossi had matches of 25 digs against Valparaiso and 27 against UIC, which was the highest dig total in the MVC and eighth in the NCAA. Her dig per set average of 5.78 was 20th-best during the week in the country, as she has risen to 38th in the country this season in digs per set at 4.63, while her 472 digs this year is 36th-best in the country. The Bergamo, Italy, native, leads the Redbirds in digs and is tied for the team lead with 20 service aces, and third on the squad with 98 assists.
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
With her strong weekend against UIC and Valparaiso, Illinois State freshman Ella Craggs has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Week. With her back-to-back 40+ assist matches, she became the first freshman since 2017 (Stef Jankiewicz) to have two consecutive MVC contests with 40+ assists. She had the fourth-most total assists of any freshman in the NCAA during the week (eighth-highest assists per set) and had the 24th-highest assist total in the country - highest in the MVC - regardless of class. She also had the 45th-highest assist per set total in the NCAA, and highest in the MVC, regardless of class.
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SHE'S DIGGING IT
In ISU's match with Bradley on September 27, Illinois State fifth-year libero Arianna Rossi had a match-high 39 digs, which is tied for the fifth-highest total in the country this season.
LARGE MARGINS
Against Evansville on Friday night, ISU gave up just 39 points to the Aces (9, 12, 18). That marks the fourth time since volleyball scoring moved from 30-point sets to 25-point sets prior to the 2008 that ISU has allowed fewer than 40 points in a match, with the low total coming on September 28, 2018 when ISU held Evansville to 33 points (13, 9, 11). ISU also gave up 38 points to Tennessee Tech on September 10, 2016 (12, 13, 13) and 39 against Evansville on September 25, 2017 (12, 15, 12).
NEAR THE TOP IN CONFERENCE BLOCKS
This season through the end of the regular season, Illinois State middle blocker Khenedi Guest ranks third in the MVC in both total blocks and blocks per set.
STRONG DEFENSE
In each of ISU's wins over Bradley, Murray State and Evansville, the Redbirds held their opponents to an attack percentage under .100, which is tied for the longest streak by the program since 1994. In those 32 years, there have been nine instances of three straight games holding an opponent to the low attack percentage.
HIGH SCORING SET
This season the Redbirds have played in 16 sets that have needed more than 25 points to secure a win, and ISU's second-set win against Butler saw a score of 34-32, which is the second-highest scoring set in program history, and is tied for the 14th-highest scoring set in the NCAA this season.
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BONUS TIME
This season through the close of the regular season, the Redbirds have played in 16 sets in which the score is above the previously-scheduled stopping point. That is tied for the sixth-most in a single season.
MVC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The award is her second career MVC Player of the Week honor, as she had previously earned the award on October 7, 2024. She had 29 total kills over nine sets in the opening weekend, and she is averaging 3.22 kills per set, while hitting at a .278 percentage. She is one of two players in the MVC to be averaging at least 3.0 kills and digs, and the only player to rank inside of the top-15 in kills per set, hitting percentage, aces per set, and digs per set. The Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, native, led the Redbirds in kills during two of her three matches on the week, knocking down a season-high 12 in the opener against 2024 NIVC qualifier DePaul, and 11 more against Oakland in the weekend finale.
CONSECUTIVE SET WINS
By sweeping the opening weekend of the 2025 season, the Redbirds won nine consecutive sets. The Redbirds won the first two sets of their next match against Loyola, running the consecutive set streak to 11, tied for the second-longest season-opening streak in school history.
DOUBLE-DIGIT KILLS
This season the Redbirds have had nine student-athletes (Ruth Ziegler, Khenedi Guest, Caitlyn Little, Logan Grevengoed, Aida Shadewald, Oliwia Caputa, Ne'Khaela Rogers, Abby Reck, and Hannah Reichensperger) record a match with double-digit kills, tied for the most in a season since 2003.
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ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS
In the season-opening Western Michigan Tournament, three Redbirds - Aida Shadewald, Arianna Rossi, and Ruth Ziegler - were named to the All-Tournament Team, with Shadewald earning Most Valuable Player honors. A week later, Logan Grevengoed was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Kwik Star Klassic. In the team's final tournament - the Dayton Flyer Invitational - Caitlyn Little earned All-Tournament Team honors, as five different players earned All-Tournament team honors this season.
PRESEASON POLL
Returning eight student-athletes that started at least nine matches last season, while bringing in the top-rated recruiting class in program history, has the Illinois State volleyball team picked to finish third in the preseason Missouri Valley Coaches Poll. Two Redbirds – Aida Shadewald and Khenedi Guest – were named to the preseason All-MVC squad.
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ALL-TIME SERIES
The upcoming MVC tournament match is the first meeting between the two schools in the MVC Tournament, while the Redbords hold a 23-13 mark against the Flames.
