VALPARAISO, Ind. – The Illinois State volleyball team improved to 11-2 on the season, and a perfect 2-0 in the MVC for the first time since 2019, as the Redbirds rallied to win the fourth and fifth sets in a thrilling five-set win over the Valparaiso Beacons on Saturday evening by scores of 25-17, 18-25, 14-25, 25-15, and 15-10.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Set (25-17): Valpo jumped ahead early, using a 4-1 match-opening run, and the Beacon 4-1 run was answered by a 4-1 run by the Redbirds knotting the match at 5-5 early in the contest. Trailing 7-5, the Redbirds used a 10-1 run to flip the margin, giving ISU the 15-8 lead just past the midway point of the set. ISU would go on to lead by as many as nine in the lopsided opening set win.

Second Set (18-25): After seeing the Beacons score the first two points of the set, ISU ran off six consecutive points to push ahead to a 6-2 advantage early. The Beacons would not go away, running off five consecutive points to stretch to a 12-10 lead. The Valpo lead would grow to as many as six, first at 20-14, and close with a seven-point, 25-18 VU win.

Third Set (14-25): For the third consecutive set, Valparaiso jumped ahead early, scoring the first three points, as the hosts led by as many as six points near the midway point of the set. The visiting Redbirds would only get as close as four points the rest of the way in the third-set Beacon win.

Fourth Set (25-15): After seeing the hosts score first in the first three sets, ISU struck first in the fourth set; however, Valparaiso came back with four in a row to lead 4-1. The Redbirds flipped the switch using an 8-2 run to push ahead 9-6. The Birds increased their lead to eight at 18-10 on the strength of a 5-0 run, as the final margin settled at 10 as the Redbirds reached their 25th point.

Fifth Set (15-10): Playing in a fifth set for just the second time this season, and the first time since September 6, Illinois State jumped out to a 10-1 lead forcing two Beacon timeouts during a 9-0 run. Valpo would only get as close as four over the rest of the way, securing a 2-0 MVC start to the season despite a late 4-0 Beacon run.

KEY STATISTICS

• Illinois State opened with the lineup of 1 Ruth Ziegler, 6 Logan Grevengoed, 9 Ella Craggs, 10 Oliwia Caputa, 14 Jillian Ferrill, 16 Abby Reck, and libero 5 Sammi Bunch
• Illinois State improves to 11-2 this season
  • ISU's 11-2 start is the best 13-match start to a season by the Redbirds since the 2004 team also started 11-2
    • The 2004 team went 12-2 before picking up their third loss of the season
• With tonight's win, the Redbirds go to 17-7 all-time against Valparaiso, and have won the last two matches in Valparaiso
• ISU improved to 2-0 in the MVC for the first time since the 2019 season
• The Redbirds had three student-athletes record 3+ aces in the same match for the first time since August 29, 2014, when Sierra Burns, Jaelyn Keene, and Kaitlyn Early all had three aces in a win over Central Arkansas to open the 2014 season
  • For the second time this season Illinois State had two players serve up a trio of service aces in the same match, as Sammi Bunch, Jillian Gregory, and Ruth Ziegler each had three for ISU
  • The Redbirds had three with at least three aces on September 11 against Western Illinois when Gregory and Ella Craggs accomplished the feat
• For the fifth time this season, Ruth Ziegler led the Redbirds in kills, as she had 16 in the match, while serving up three aces, her 25th, 26th, and 27th of the season
  • The match was her fifth double-digit kill match of the season
• Sammi Bunch tied her career-high with three service aces
  • For the seventh time this season, and for the sixth consecutive match, had double-digit digs with 16
• Ella Craggs gave out a team-high 23 assists, while picking up seven digs
  • She also tied a season-high with two kills from her setter position
• Jillian Ferrill set a career-high with seven digs, while tying her career-high with a pair of blocks
  • She also knocked down five kills
• Olivia Caputa followed up an 11-kill, 11-dig double-double against UIC by knocking down 12 kills with five digs against the Beacons
• Peyton Turner recorded her second double-digit dig match of the season, as she had 11 against the Beacons
• Logan Grevengoed, who had eight kills, has had at least seven kills eight times this season, and in five of her last six matches
• Ella Kohnen tied her career-high with 10 assists, while adding four digs
• Jillian Gregory tied her career-high with three service aces

NEXT UP

The Redbirds return to Normal, for the first of four consecutive home matches, as ISU hosts the Northern Iowa Panthers on Thursday, October 1 with a 6 p.m. first serve inside CEFCU Arena.