CHICAGO – Trailing 16-9 in the fourth set, the Illinois State volleyball squad rallied, closing the fourth set on a 16-7 run, and then finished off the fifth set for a 15-13 win, advancing to the MVC Tournament Semifinals following a 3-2 win over the UIC Flames (25-21, 13-25, 19-25, 25-23, 15-13).
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set (25-21): The teams battled early, and the teams were tied 9-9 before the host Flames ran off a 4-0 run to force an ISU timeout at 13-9. The Redbirds answered with three in a row of their own – the last two on a kill and block from Ruth Ziegler – forcing UIC into a timeout of their own after seeing their lead cut to one at 13-12. Immediately out of the timeout Aida Shadewald converted on back-to-back aces to put the Birds back on top at 14-13. The Birds kept their foot on the gas pedal, stretching the lead to as many as 17-14 on back-to-back Khenedi Guest kills. The ISU lead grew to as many as four, before settling at four at the end of the set in the 25-21 ISU opening-set win.
Second Set (13-25): UIC scored the first five points of the second set for the Flames, and the hosts would lead by as many as ten, and not trail at any point of the second frame.
Third Set (19-25): The Redbirds scored two straight to open the third set; and ISU led 7-6 before the hosts ran off a 7-1 run to lead 13-8, and the Flames would not trail again in the third set, forcing a deciding fourth frame for ISU.
Fourth Set (25-23): ISU and UIC traded the lead early in the set, the last lead change coming as UIC used a 4-0 run to turn a 3-2 Redbird lead into a 6-3 Flame advantage. The hosts' lead grew to as many as seven at 16-9; however, the Redbirds came flying back, running off six of seven points to close the gap to just two at 17-15, and kept their foot on the gas pedal in the two-point fourth-set win, closing the frame on a 16-7 run to force a deciding fifth set.
Fifth Set (15-13): UIC shrugged off the Redbird hot finish from the fourth set and scored the first two points of the deciding set, only to see ISU rally back by scoring four in a row to lead 4-2. The Flames fought back and tied the score at five, eight, and ten; however, after being tied 10-10, ISU scored four of the next five points to jump ahead 14-11 and secured the win with a Ziegler kill.
KEY STATISTICS
- The match is the first of the 2025 MVC Tournament
- The Redbirds improved to 45-28 all-time in MVC Tournament play, and are now 17-2 all-time against the tournament fourth seed
- ISU had three players with 5+ blocks in the same match for the first time since September 12 this season against the Miami Hurricanes, as Ruth Ziegler and Hannah Reichensperger each had eight, while Khenedi Guest added seven
- Illinois State's 18 blocks in the match are a season-high, and are the most since the Birds also had 18 against Valparaiso on October 16, 2021
- With her two service aces in the first set, Shadewald becomes just the 11th player in program history to eclipse the 130-ace plateau for a Redbird career, as she ended the match with three aces, giving her 131 over her four-year ISU career
- Shadewald had a season-high 20 digs
- Her double-digit dig match are her eighth of the season, and the second straight heading into the MVC semifinals
- The senior also added 10 kills
- The 10 kills are her 11th match this season with double-digit kills
- The double-double was Shadewald's sixth of the season
- Guest had eight kills for the Redbirds, while adding seven blocks
- The match was her 12th this season in which she had 5+ blocks in a single contest
- Ziegler added a team-high 12 kills for the Redbirds, while her eight blocks set a career-high
- Hannah Reichensperger tied for the team lead with eight blocks, had nine kills, and tied a career-high with seven digs
- Oliwia Caputa added seven kills for the birds, along with seven digs and three blocks
- Logan Grevengoed had seven kills for ISU, while picking up three blocks
- Arianna Rossi ended the match with 12 digs, her ninth consecutive match with double-digit digs, and the 23rd double-digit dig performance of the season
- Ella Craggs capped her freshman season with a match-high 26 assists – while adding 11 digs – as Audrey Clark had 18 assists with five digs
- For Craggs it was her sixth double-double of the season
NEXT UP
The Redbirds take back to the road for a Saturday afternoon (6 p.m.) first serve in Cedar Falls, Iowa, against the top-seeded Northern Iowa Panthers.
