NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State Redbirds battled and got strong efforts throughout; however, the Miami Hurricanes - a team receiving votes in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) National Poll – proved just too much to overcome, as ISU fell in four sets on Friday night 22-25, 25-20, 21-25, 13-25 on the first day of the Linda Herman Classic.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set (22-25): The Redbirds jumped ahead early and led by as many as four points at 7-3 following a Ruth Ziegler kill; however, the strong Hurricane squad scored 12 of the next 14 points to push ahead to a six-point, 15-9 advantage. The Redbirds would not back down, climbing back to within one at 22-21 after back-to-back combo blocks from Logan Grevengoed and Khenedi Guest, but could not overcome the full deficit in the three-point set loss.
Second Set (25-20): Miami scored the first point of the second set, and the Redbirds followed by scoring eight of the next nine, and ISU would not trail again in the frame. The Redbird advantage grew to as many as eight points at 24-16, before the Birds settled in for the 25-20 set win, tied for the second-biggest set loss for the Hurricanes this season.
Third Set (21-25): The third set was tight for nearly the entire time, with the teams tied at 11 at the beginning of a Miami 5-0 run that gave the visiting Hurricanes an eventual 14-11 lead, one that they would not give up.
Fourth Set (13-25): The Hurricanes scored the first two points of the fourth set, and never trailed, as the visitors cruised to a 25-13 win.
KEY STATISTICS
- Ruth Ziegler had a season-high 12 kills in the match, needing just 23 swings for an attack percentage of .522 for the match
- She becomes the eighth different Redbird to have a match with double-digit kills this season
- Ella Craggs and Audrey Clark shared the team lead in assists with 18
- Craggs, Arianna Rossi, and Hannah Reichensperger each had one of the team's three service aces in the loss
- Rossi led a trio of Redbirds in double-digit digs with her fifth double-digit match of the season, and her 19 in the match is two off her season-high
- Also with double-digit digs was Craggs and Oliwia Caputa, who each had 20
- For Craggs, it is her team-leading second double-double this season
- The Redbirds, who rank 11th nationally in blocks per set, had 11 blocks in the match, ISU's sixth double-digit block match this season in seven total matches
- Guest's five blocks gave the sophomore her seventh match this season with three or more blocks, as she has averaged over a block per set in six of seven matches this season
- Grevengoed tied her season-high with six blocks, as it was her fifth match this season with four or more blocks
- For the fifth time in as many matches, Reichensperger had at least four blocks, as she knocked back a season-high six against the Hurricanes
- This season ISU has held five of their seven opponents to attack percentages under .200, including this evening where Miami hit a season-low .168 (their previous season-low was .195 against UCF
NEXT UP
The Redbirds return to action quickly with a Saturday afternoon battle with the Big 12's Cincinnati Bearcats at 4 p.m. inside CEFCU Arena.
