KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Illinois State volleyball team – led by tournament MVP Aida Shadewald – swept through competition at the Western Michigan Tournament, winning all three matches of the tournament 3-0, the first time a Redbird squad has swept the first three games of a season since 1992.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set (25-19): The Redbirds battled the high-energy Grizzly squad back and forth for nearly the entirety of the opening set, as Oakland led by as many as two points in the frame, as late as 16-14. With the set tied at 19, the Redbirds closed strong, scoring the final six points of the set, using a pair of kills by Ruth Ziegler and Khenedi Guest, a kill from Caitlyn Little, while the Birds closed the set on a combo block by Guest and Little as the Redbirds clinched a 25-19 set victory.
Second Set (25-20): The Redbirds scored the first three points and led 8-2 in the second set, as ISU never looked back in the 25-20 victory in the frame.
Third Set (26-24): In the third and eventual final set, the largest lead gained by either team throughout would be three, and that would only happen three times in the frame. Each team had a series of runs in the set, but with the score tied at 18, ISU ran off a 5-2 run; however, the Grizzlies fought back and knotted the score at 24. Oliwia Caputa closed the door for the Redbirds will back-to-back kills to send ISU back home with an unblemished set record on the weekend.
KEY STATISTICS
- Shadewald was named the Tournament Most Valuable Player, while she, Ruth Ziegler, and Arianna Rossi were all named to the All-Tournament Team
- In winning the Western Michigan Tournament, ISU secured its first 3-0 start to a season since 2010 (that team started the season 4-0)
- By winning each of the team's first three matches 3-0, this season is just the fourth time in school history that a Redbird squad has opened a season with three straight sweeps. The last time it happened was in the 1992 season that saw ISU sweep its first four opponents. The 1979 and 1980 teams both swept its first four opponents (however, two of the matches were won 2-0)
- ISU closed strong, using its best hitting percentage of the weekend (.227), with a weekend-high 45 kills
- Shadewald had her first double-double of the season with 11 kills and 14 digs
- For the third time in as many matches, setter Audrey Clark set a new career-high, this time with 21 assists, while also setting a new career-high with nine digs
- Ziegler set a new season-high with eight kills against the Grizzlies, while leading the team with a season-high five blocks
- ISU had seven different players record at least five kills in the win: Shadewald (11), Ziegler (8), Guest (5), Little (5), Caputa (5), Ne'Khaela Rogers (5), and Abby Reck (5)
- The match was the collegiate debut for Rogers, who had five kills on 12 attempts with four blocks
- Guest had four blocks in the match, and has 14 total blocks through the first weekend of the season
- Rossi had a match-high 19 digs for the Redbirds, and is a new season-high for the transfer
- Clark had each of the team's two service aces on the day
NEXT UP
After returning to Bloomington/Normal, the Redbirds turn around and head west to Iowa, and will open the Iowa Volleyball Tournament on Thursday, September 4 against the Loyola Ramblers, who have opened the season with a 1-2 record with a 3-2 win over Drake before falling to Western Kentucky and Wright State.
