Redbirds look to extend winning streak on the road

Photo courtesy goredbirds.com

NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State volleyball team is set for another 2 game swing on the road this weekend, matching up against Southern Illinois and Missouri State.

ISU is currently on a five game winning streak, accumulating for a 8-3 conference record, and are looking to extend it this weekend.

The Redbirds have been a force to reckon with in recent weeks, shooting up to second in the Missouri Valley Conference standings as well as becoming one of the best offensive teams in the nation, combining for 1,203 kills, the second most kills out of any team in the NCAA.

Behind much of the success has been freshman setter Katelyn Lefler who has reached 500 assists in her first season as a Redbird. Lefler has been one of the big components to help the Redbird offense this year.

“I think a lot of it is just connections and trust… we have really good trust with each other and know that me and Nora are going to put up a good ball for our hitters and our hitters will put it in play,” said Lefler on her dynamic with her hitters.

The Redbirds offense has been killing it this season, led by Leflers 7.91 assists per set and sophomore Tamara Otenes exceptional hitting. Otene is averaging 4.4 kills per set and has accumulated 341 total kills throughout the season, the 17th most in all of the NCAA.

“I still think there is room for improvement and growth like there is everyday, but we worked our butts off in practice, we compete for every point, we play every point like it was our last point of the season,” said Lefler about her team’s offensive success.

The Redbirds are back in action Friday at 6 p.m. where they will face off against Southern Illinois, and Saturday at 6:30 p.m. against Missouri State.