Redbirds in a Rut After a Tough Road Trip

Image Courtesy of Illinois State Athletics

NORMAL, Ill. – After a season-high six-game win streak, Illinois State Volleyball is looking to get back on track. They have lost four matches in a row.

After a disappointing loss to UNI last weekend, the Birds struggled to find consistency and lacked the ability to finish games, including a gut-wrenching five-set loss at UIC. Though there is room for improvement, ISU has run into a difficult part of its schedule, as all four of its recent losses have been against teams well over .500, including the MVC’s top seed, the UNI Panthers.

It was an incredibly closely contested match against the UIC Flames, as sets two and three both went past the traditional set point mark of 25, ending in scores of 26-24 in favor of Illinois State and 28-26 in favor of the Flames. Unfortunately, errors were the deciding factor in this match, as ISU made 31 of them in the match and only managed to hit .180 across the five sets.

Despite this lack of team offense, Caitlyn Little had a staggering 21 kills in the matchup, leading the team by 7 kills. She was seconded by Olivia Caputa, who had one of her strongest showings of the year with 14 kills.

After being extinguished by the Flames, Illinois State traveled to face another MVC powerhouse in Valparaiso, where their team struggles continued.

The Redbirds only managed a .158 hitting percentage on the match, which is by far their lowest since the beginning of MVC play back in September. Additionally, ISU only managed to score 59 total points to Valpo’s impressive 71.

The Redbirds were outmatched in this one. They enjoyed an early 1-0 lead after the first set, but then they proceeded to lose the last three sets, including a disappointing 9-point loss in the third set, which dropped it 16-25.

Noticeably, in these two losses, Aida Shadewald struggled to find a rhythm, and the rest of the team followed suit. As the 20th-ranked scorer in the nation, if the Redbirds want to be at their best, they need their All-MVC player to shake off the road trip and get back on track for this weekend.

ISU will head back on the road this weekend for a break in their tough schedule with matches against the Indiana State Sycamores and SIU Salukies, respectively.