Redbird Volleyball Falls to Panthers and Bulldogs in MVC Play

Image courtesy of Illinois State Athletics

NORMAL, Ill. — Illinois State Volleyball was at home this week to take on Northern Iowa and Drake. Going into the matches with an 11-2 record.

On Thursday, Redbirds were up against a tough competitor in Northern Iowa. The Panthers came into the match with a record of 8-5 and 2-0 conference record.

In the first set, the Panthers took an early 7-2 lead. However, the Redbirds began their comeback going on an 8-4 run that closed the gap at 11-10. Northern Iowa’s lead was at jeopardy over the next four points. Illinois State got the ball back going on a four consecutive points to take its first lead of the set. The score sat at 18-16 before the Panthers answered back quickly with three consecutive points to regain their lead at 19-18. The Redbirds were able to tie the match at 19, 20, 21 and 23, but Northern Iowa finished it out with the final two points, ending the set 25-23.

Panthers once again got an early lead, 7-2, before the Redbirds began clawing back from the deficit. Illinois State got the ball back and ran off four points in a row, closing the gap to 11-10. However, Northern Iowa sided out and went on a 6-1 run which stretched its lead to 17-11. Down six points, Illinois State only got to within four before the Panthers closed it out 25-15.

With the Redbirds down two sets to none, they needed to put in hard work to turn the script around. In set three, Northern Iowa jumped ahead with a 4-1 lead. Illinois State refused to give up, used a 6-0 run to take a four point lead at 14-10. This was the Redbirds first lead of the set, but Panthers clawed their way back into the lead at 18-17. Northern Iowa didn’t look back as they extended the lead to as many as five, taking the final set 25-20.

Despite the loss, Junior Oliwia Caputa earned seven kills and eleven digs. Sophomore, Ella Craggs recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 12 assists and 12 digs. Junior Ruth Ziegler led the team with nine kills. Redshirt senior Logan Grevengoed recorded four blocks, her third highest match total this season.

On Friday, Redbirds were hoping to reset to face Drake, who entered the match 6-8 overall and 1-1 in conference play. Set one began with the lead going back and forth for the first ten points. Illinois State was then able to go on a four-point run, which tuned a 5-4 deficit into an 8-5 advantage. The lead for the Redbirds grew as much as seven, shifting the score to 17-10. A late rally attempt by Drake was no match for Illinois State, who closed out set one 25-20.

Moving into the second set, the teams once again found themselves trading points. The Redbirds took off on another four-point scoring run to gain the lead at 8-4. Illinois State was able to maintain its lead until Drake went on a 6-0 run to get ahead 14-11. The Bulldogs kept it pushing, extending their lead as many as five points at 21-16. The Redbirds got the ball back and cut the lead to as few as three, with the score now set at 21-18. Drake eventually won the set 25-20.

Illinois State was able to jump ahead quickly to begin set three, leading 6-2 through the first eight points of the set before Drake began to fight back. The Bulldogs went on a 10-0 run, turning the 7-3 deficit into a 13-7 advantage. the Redbirds were unable to come back as Drake continued to extend their lead as many as ten, winning set three 25-15.

Down two sets to one, the Redbirds were able to take an early lead, going ahead as many as six points with a 11-5 lead. Drake, however, answered back with a 4-0 scoring run, closing the gap to 11-9. Illinois State answered back with a scoring run of its own, gaining nine points that included three service aces from libero Sammi Bunch. The Bulldogs were unable to come back and the Redbirds took set four 25-13.

The final set began with Drake scoring the first two points. The Redbirds answered back quickly with the help of Bunch again. The redshirt senior recorded a career-high five services aces. This scoring run was halted back when Drake went on another 2-0 run pushing, the Bulldog lead to 4-2. From there, it was a back and forth set, until Drake ran off four consecutive points to extend its lead to 9-4. With the Redbirds down, they began chipping away, closing the gap to one point at 11-10. However, the Bulldogs got the ball back and were able to close out the set at 15-12.

With this loss, it moves Illinois State to 11-4 overall and 2-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference .

Bunch was not the only highlight of the match, as sophomore Jillian Gregory added a season-high 14 kills. Caputa set a career high with 20 digs in addition to her 11 kills which, marking her second double-double of the season. Lastly, Grevengoed crept closer to the 500 kill milestone as she currently sits at 496.

Coming up this week, the Redbirds will take on I-74 rivals Bradley on Oct. 6 at CEFCU Arena. Then on Friday, they will host the Indiana State Sycamores, with first serve at 6 p.m.

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