TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Illinois State defense held Indiana State to a .125 attack percentage, while adding seven blocks and five players with at least six digs, as the Redbirds toppled the Sycamores for the second time in a three-game span, winning on Saturday afternoon by scores of 25-15, 25-17, 23-25, and 25-18.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Set (25-15): The Sycamores jumped out to a quick 4-2 lead before the Redbirds scored six in a row to take a four-point, 8-4 lead. ISU extended their lead to as many as nine in the set – at 18-9 – as Emilija Arsic and Logan Grevengoed each had seven and four kills, respectively, in the period.

Second Set (25-17): The Redbirds used a 4-0 scoring run to turn a 4-3 deficit into a 7-4 lead early in the second set. Another 4-0 run extended ISU to a 14-6 lead, as the Redbird lead never dipped lower than five over the remainder of the set, a 25-17 Bird win.

Third Set (25-23): The score was back-and-forth early in the set, and the match was tied at nine before Illinois State rattled off runs of 4-0 and 3-0 to push ahead by four at 15-11. The four-point lead would be the largest of the set, as the host Sycamores fought back to tie the score to 18. From there it was a tight battle that saw Indiana State score the final three points of the frame to take home the third-set, 25-23 win.

Fourth Set (25-18): The fourth set opened as the Jillian Ferrill show, as the Redbird freshman had four of the team's first six points via kills, pushing Illinois State ahead 5-3. The Redbirds would not trail at any point in the fourth set, despite Indiana State knotting the score at 11, but eight kills over the set for the Redbird season sweep of the Sycamores, and the ninth consecutive win in the all-time series between the two schools.

KEY STATISTICS

• Illinois State opened with the lineup of 2 Emilija Arsic, 6 Logan Grevengoed, 9 Ella Craggs, 11 Jillian Gregory, 16 Abby Reck, 18 Ayla Klingenberg, and libero 5 Sammi Bunch
• Illinois State improves to 15-4 this season, 6-2 in the MVC, and 76-10 all-time against the Sycamores, including winning each of the last nine meetings
  • The Redbirds improve to 6-2 in the MVC for the third time in the last four seasons
  • ISU has 15 wins in its first 19 matches for the first time since the 1998 team opened 16-4
• The Redbirds held Indiana State to an attack percentage of .125, the 14th time this season that the ISU defense has held an opponent to an attack percentage below .200
• Jillian Ferrill had a match-high 17 kills – the second-highest total of her college career – while hitting .500 with 30 attempts and just two errors
• Emilija Arsic had a season-high 12 kills – her second consecutive match with double-digit kills – as she narrowly missed a double-double with nine digs
• Logan Grevengoed matched her season-high with 11 kills, while also blocking a team-high five kill attempts.
• Sammi Bunch had a match-high 20 digs – her fifth consecutive match with 20+ digs, and the eighth-time this season she has reached the 20-dig milestone, and the 13th time with double-digit digs
  • Bunch had a team-high two service aces, giving her six over the two matches of the weekend
• Peyton Turner reached double-digit digs for the fourth time this season as she had 11 in the match, tied for her second-highest total in a match this season
• Ella Kohnen and Ella Craggs each had 18 assists for the Redbirds, Kohnen for the sixth time this season, and Craggs for the 18th time
• With her second of four kills, Abby Reck eclipsed the career 500-kill plateau in the match, as three Redbirds: Reck, Grevengoed, and Ruth Ziegler each reached the 500-kill milestone over the weekend

NEXT UP

ISU comes back to a split weekend ahead of the school's homecoming, as the team travels to Southern Illinois on Friday, October 23, before returning home two days later against the Belmont Bruins on Sunday, October 25.