CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Illinois State volleyball team plays a split weekend of games, traveling to Carbondale, Illinois, for a Friday evening tilt against the Salukis, before heading back home on Sunday, October 25, closing out homecoming weekend with a 1 p.m. battle with the Belmont Bruins.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday, October 23
  6 p.m. - at Southern Illinois - STATS | WATCH
Sunday, October 24
  1 p.m. - vs Belmont - STATS | WATCH
QUICK HITTERS
• The Redbirds are 15-4 this season, the 10th time in program history that an ISU squad has had 15 wins through the first 19 matches of the season
• Illinois State ranks inside of the top-100 in the NCAA in six categories, including: aces per set (10th - 2.04), digs per set (22nd - 15.93), won-loss percentage (25th - .789), opponent hitting percentage (56th - .182), hitting percentage (72nd - .242), kills per set (85th - 13.10)
• Redbird senior Sammi Bunch was named the MVC Libero of the Week in back-to-back weeks, the first on October 12 and the second on October 19
• Illinois State setter Ella Craggs became the 20th player in program history to eclipse the 1,000-assist plateau on October 16 at Evansville, and has 1,030 for her career
• Against Bradley on October 6, the Redbirds held the Braves to just eight points in the second set. That is tied for the second-fewest points allowed by an ISU team in a single-set during the NCAA's 25-point set scoring era (since 2008)
• ISU junior Ruth Ziegler ranks 25th in the NCAA this season in service aces per set, as she is averaging 0.53
• Ruth Ziegler's eight service aces on September 4 are the second-most in school history, and tied for the fifth-most in an NCAA match this season, regardless of number of sets played
• Ziegler, in addition to being named to the Seton Hall Tournament All-Tournament Team, was also named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week on August 31
• Prior to her team's opening match of the season, Illinois State head volleyball coach Allie Matters - who was returning to play the tournament at her alma mater - was announced as a member of the 2027 class of the Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Fame
• Against Valparaiso on September 26, three different Redbird players - Ruth Ziegler, Jillian Gregory, and Sammi Bunch - each had three aces, the first time a Redbird trio has had 3+ aces since the 2014 season-opener
• Over its last 27 matches, including the last eight of 2025, Illinois State has a 21-6 record, including closing the 2025 season by winning six of its last eight games, and starting the 2026 season 15-4
BACK-TO-BACKÂ LIBERO OF THE WEEK
In back-to-back weeks, Illinois State senior Sammi Bunch has earned a pair of MVC Libero of the Week honors. The first came with wins over Bradley and Indiana State, where she earned her 1,000th collegiate dig. Her dig per set average led the MVC and was eighth-best in the NCAA during the week. A week later she had 41 digs over two matches, averaging 5.13 digs per set, while serving up six aces and gave out 15 assists. Her dig total was the second-most in the conference, while her dig per set average was 44th-best in the NCAA during the week. Bunch's 0.75 service aces per set is tied for the 54th-most in the country this week, and her six aces are tied for the most in the conference during the week.
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HOLDING THE BRAVES TO LITTLE
Against Bradley on October 6, the Redbirds held the Braves to just eight points in the second set. That total is tied for the second-fewest points allowed in a set during the NCAA's 25-point era (since 2008).
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BALANCING STRENGTH WITH FINESSE
This season, Illinois State has two student athletes - Jillian Ferrill and Ruth Zielger, that rank inside of the top-20 in both attack percentage and kills per set. There are just five student-athletes across the MVC that are inside of the top-20 in each, and the Redbirds have 40 percent of those.
NEW TO THE SERVING GAME
After two seasons with the Illinois State program, junior opposite Ruth Ziegler had attempted just 15 serves with zero aces - all coming during her freshman year. After no service attempts last season during her sophomore season, she has erupted this season with 29 aces, an average of 0.54 per set, which is the 29th-highest total in the NCAA this season coming into the weekend.
THREE WITH THREE ACES
Against Valparaiso, Ruth Ziegler, Jillian Gregory, and Sammi Bunch each served up a trio of aces, the first time in over a decade that the Redbirds had three players each record three or more aces.
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LENDING A HELPING HAND
For the first time since at least 1991, the Illinois State volleyball team had three players record double-digit assists in the same match, led by Ella Craggs (13), Sammi Bunch (12), and Ella Kohnen (10). With the three players reaching double-figure assists, the Redbirds have four players this season who have reached the double-figure plateau, also the most of any team since at least 1991.
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OPENING PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Illinois State junior opposite Ruth Ziegler has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week for the opening week of MVC play, announced by the conference office on Monday afternoon. Named to the Seton Hall Tournament All-Tournament Team, Ziegler is one of two players in the MVC to rank inside of the top-10 in both hitting percentage (third) and kills per set (ninth). She is a strong part of the Redbird offense that leads the MVC in hitting percentage after the first week of the season, including back-to-back matches hitting over .300 to close the Seton Hall Tournament (Illinois State had two of the three matches during the week in which a team hit .300 or better). Her three service aces against Fairleigh Dickinson are a career-high, and the first of her collegiate career, while her 12 kills in the finale are tied for the fourth-most in a three-set match in the MVC through the opening week, and her 17 points are the most in a three-set match in the conference. She is an integral part of ISU's .419 attack percentage against NJIT, which is the 24th-highest attack percentage in the country over the opening weekend of the year.
NON-SETTER ASSISTS
Since 1991, there have been just five times that a Redbird student-athlete from a non-setter position has had double-digit assists. Two of those five were Sammi Bunch, with the most recent occurrence coming on Sunday at Oakland.Â
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SERVING INTO THE NATION'S LEADERS
Behind 139 total aces through 19 matches season , Illinois State has climbed into the top-10 in the NCAA in aces per set at the most recent rankings.
ACES ABOUND FOR RUTH
Against Central Michigan on September 4, Illinois State junior Ruth Ziegler had eight service aces, tied for the fourth-most in a match in program history, while it currently tied for the fourth-highest total in the NCAA this season.
ILLINOIS STATE INTERNATIONAL STUDENT-ATHLETES
This season, with two international student-athletes on the roster (Emilija Arsic from Belgrade, Serbia, and Oliwia Caputa from Zwiec, Poland), it marks the fourth consecutive season that the ISU volleyball roster has had at least two international players on it. The Redbirds have had at least one international student-athlete every season since 2020.
RETURNING THE SETTERS
Illinois State returns each of its top two assist leaders last season, as Ella Craggs had 671 and Audrey Clark had 475. The duo's total - 1,146 - is the most of any returning pair on the MVC, with the Belmont duo of Jordan Czajkowski and Alivia Keegan sitting just behind the Redbirds with 1,120. There are just four schools in the MVC to return two setters with 200+ assists.
REDBIRDS PICKED SIXTH
The Illinois State volleyball team has been selected to finish sixth in the MVC, according to the conference's preseason coaches poll. Northern Iowa was picked to finish first, earning 119 points and nine first place votes, while Drake and UIC picked up the two remaining first place votes. Five other schools: Bradley, Evansville, Indiana State, Murray State, and Southern Illinois were picked behind Illinois State; however, those results were not made available to the public.
