KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Behind a strong and balanced effort, the Illinois State volleyball team made quick work of the DePaul Blue Demons on Friday night in the 2025 season opener, sweeping the BIG EAST foe 25-19, 25-23, 25-15.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set: The teams started the match in a tight battle, with ISU holding a narrow 13-11 lead before the Redbirds ran off five consecutive points, capped by the second of two Clark aces during the run, to push ISU ahead 18-11, and the Birds never looked back in the 25-19 opening-set win.
Second Set: ISU found itself trailing 14-8 near the hallway point of the second set before the Birds ran off six consecutive points, and nine of 10 points to quickly erase the six-point deficit. DePaul fought back and took a narrow one-point, 20-19 lead; however, ISU's strength showed through to close the set, with a Reichensperger kill closing the door on the 25-23 Redbird win.
Third Set: Fueled by the strong finish a set earlier, the Redbirds ran off to a 9-4 lead early in the third set and never looked back, claiming the 25-15 third-set win.
KEY STATISTICS
- Illinois State is now 25-2 all-time against their foes from Chicago and have won the last four meetings between the schools.
- Aida Shadewald put down a match-high 12 kills in the win, while Hannah Reichensperger added seven.
- Shadewald and Arianna Rossi each had a match-high-tying nine digs.
- Reichensperger's five blocks were tied for the most in the match.
- Audrey Clark and Ella Craggs shared setting duties, with Clark out-pacing Craggs 16-to-11 in assists.
- Clark had two of the team's three aces in the match.
- The match was the collegiate debut for freshman Craggs, while two others – Clark and Rossi – made their Illinois State debuts in the win.
- The Redbirds are now 27-26 all-time in season openers.
- With her match-high 12 kills, Aida Shadwald – who ranks 20th in school history – now has 1,084 career kills, and trails 19th place on the school kills list (Angie Rolf) by just 47 kills.
- The opening-match sweep was ISU's first since the 2017 opener against UC Santa Barbara, and just the fifth since 2000.
NEXT UP
The Redbirds remain in Kalamazoo and will play tournament host Western Michigan tomorrow in a 5 p.m. first serve.
