NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State volleyball team (18-13) advanced to their fourth-straight Missouri Valley Conference Championship match with a 3-0 victory (25-18, 25-15, 25-20) over No. 6 Indiana State (18-12) on Friday night inside Redbird Arena.
The Redbirds took control early on in each of their three set wins, responding to each attempt by the Sycamores at a comeback. In the opening set, ISU jumped out to a 10-4 lead with three kills coming from MVC Player of the Year, Tamara Otene. The Sycamores forced an Illinois State timeout with a 3-0 scoring run, but ultimately could never diminish the Redbirds' lead to fewer than four as ISU closed the set with four of the final five points in the 25-18 win.
In the second set, Illinois State jumped out to an 8-2 advantage with Otene and freshman Aliyah Moore combining for four of the Redbirds' five kills during that swing. Despite coming within four again in the second set, the Sycamores couldn't cut ISU's lead any further as the Redbirds outscored Indiana State 8-2 to close out the second set in dominating fashion with a 25-15 win.
The third and final set started out much closer than the previous two, tied up at four apiece to open the set. Illinois State outscored Indiana State 9-1 in response, taking an eight-point advantage with the help of four block assists and two kills from sophomore Nicole Lund in ISU's run. That run would be enough to maintain the Redbirds' lead as ISU got the sweep with the 25-20 set three win.
Illinois State had a balanced offensive attack throughout the match with the team posting 14 kills in each set tonight. Five different Redbirds contributed six or more kills in the Illinois State win led by Otene who finished with 14 on a .326 clip for her 26th double-figure effort this season. Sophomore Kaitlyn Prondzinski finished with eight kills on an impressive .467 hitting percentage, while Lund added seven kills (.667 hitting percentage) and finished with 10 blocks, matching her career high. Moore and junior Sarah Kushner chipped in six kills apiece.
QUOTE FROM HEAD COACH LEAH JOHNSON
On tonight's balanced offense:
"I think the team prepared the way we played today. Every single day that's the team I saw in practice so honestly, I thought it was the most consistent week we've had all year long in our training. We prepared that way and then we executed that way. I love the balance of our offense and Nic (Nicole Lund) just had an exceptional night which allowed everyone else to be good. I loved how we played off of that."
QUOTE FROM MIDDLE BLOCKER NICOLE LUND
On the team's confidence going into the week:
"I think this whole week just had a different mindset coming in and there was not one practice where I had any doubt in my mind. It was a really good week."
UP NEXT
The No. 2 Redbirds will face off with the No. 1 Loyola Chicago Ramblers tomorrow afternoon with an MVC Championship on the line. Illinois State will look to win its third-straight Valley Tournament title tomorrow at 4 p.m. inside Redbird Arena. Tickets are available here.
For all latest on Illinois State volleyball, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
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November 27, 2021 at 12:05PM
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Redbirds Advance to MVC Championship Match with 3-0 Win Over Indiana State - Illinois State Athletics
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