Illinois State Falls to Marquette 3-0 in Red & White Championship

Normal, ILL. – The Redbirds concluded the weekend with a loss to #25 ranked Marquette in the Red & White Championship. ISU took down both Ohio and UIC Friday and Saturday, but the undefeated Golden Eagles took down the Redbirds in three sets. The final scores were 25-22 in the first set, 25-20 in the second, and 25-22 in the third. Illinois State falls to 2-4 on the season.

Bright spots for the Redbirds included freshman setter Katelyn Lefler, who stepped up in a big way. Lefler set up 28 kills, chipped in 5 of her own, and also contributed 5 digs in a strong effort against a quality opponent. She also put up a goose egg in the error column. 

Illinois State has had a competitive start to their schedule, which in part has them off to a tough start to the season. Head Coach Leah Johnson has made it a point to face the best teams to get her players battle-tested for later in the season. Starting middle blocker Nicole Lund feels optimistic about her team’s prospects despite the rough start.

“I think we carried that energy into today’s game. We played hard, we knew Marquette was going to be a tough team,” Lund said. “It was fun to battle against them, but I think this weekend showed where we’re going, we have so much potential and I’m so excited about where we’re going to be at the end of the season.”

Next up for the Redbirds is the Flyer-Raider invitational, hosted in Dayton Ohio. Illinois State will take another set of strong opponents, with Central Michigan, Dayton, and Wright State on tap. It will be another challenging task, but the Redbird Volleyball team feels confident about their ability to go to battle with the best.

Photo courtesy of goredbirds.com