Illinois State Volleyball Seton Hall Tournament Recap, Redbirds swept two matches

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SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. — Over the weekend, Illinois State volleyball traveled to New Jersey to compete in the three-day Seton Hall tournament. Returning to Seton Hall University was special for head coach Allie Matters as she returned to her alma mater, where she played libero. Surrounded by family, the Pirates inducted Matters into the 2027 Athletics Hall of Fame. During her career at Seton Hall, Matters earned two All-Big East honors and later served six years as an assistant coach.

On day one of the tournament, Illinois State faced Seton Hall with first set seeing the Redbirds take an early lead. The Pirates started to find their groove and tying the game before taking a three point lead over the Redbirds. From there, Illinois State was playing catch up and able to tie at a score of 15. The lead would not last for long as Seton Hall scored six of the next seven points, taking the first set 25-18.

In the second set, Seton Hall started off with a two point lead, jumping to a 6-2 lead and never letting Illinois State take the lead. The Pirates’ lead grew to as large as seven points at 19-12 before the Redbirds began to rally. The Pirates were able to close out the set again late, with a final score of 25-19.

Going into the third set, Illinois State was going to need to fight hard to come back. In the third set, the Pirates held a 4-0 lead and extended their lead to as many as nine. Late in the set, down by eight the Redbirds started to claw their way back within as few as one point where the set stood at 24-23. However, the rally wasn’t enough as the Pirates closed out the set. It wasn’t all bad news for the Redbirds though as junior outside hitter Ruth Ziegler tied for a match high in kills with 10. Also, sophomore Jillian Greogory making her debut as a Redbird certainly stood out with nine kills.

On day two, Illinois State was looking to turn it around against the New Jersey Institute of Technology with first set having three ties and two lead changes through the first nine combined points. But, not before the Redbirds took four consecutive points to turn from trailing 4-3 to leading 7-4. Illinois State maintained their lead throughout the set closing it out 25-15 and finishing with an impressive .581 attack percentage.

In another competitive start for set two the teams tied at seven before the Highlanders caught fire, scoring seven of the next eight points to give them a 14-8 lead. The Highlanders were able to maintain their lead 15-11 before the Redbirds went full speed and outscored the Highlanders 14-3 over the rest of the set. This included a run of nine consecutive points to push ahead for the seven point win, winning the set 25-18.

To start the third set Illinois State trailed 1-0 but turned it around going on a 4-0 run. The Redbirds refused to give up their lead and ended the third set with a 25-13 win.

Overall on Saturday, Illinois State freshman outside hitter Jillian Ferrill made sure people knew her name as she got 14 kills contributing to the teams .419 hitting percentage. This was the first time the team has hit over .400 in a match since 2023.

On the last day of the tournament Illinois State was up against Fairleigh Dickinson, in which they started off strong in set one gaining an early two point lead. The Redbirds never trailed in the frame and used multiple 3-0 runs to cruse to a 25-18 win in the first set.

In set two, as each team earned two apiece early on, the Redbirds ran off five consecutive points, stretching their lead to 7-2. The Redbirds continued to extended their lead which included a 4-0 run late in the set, contributing to a 25-14 win.

The third set went back and forth with the Redbirds and the Knights tied 4-4 before the Redbirds took off earning four consecutive points. Two of those points were due to sophomore Ella Craggs getting two service aces against the Knights. FDU got to within one point of the Redbird lead, however were unable to overcome the early deficit as the Redbirds refused to trail over the entire match. The match ended in a 25-21 Redbird win.

Key performances from the tournament include Ziegler’s earning a season high 12 kills and her three services aces were the first of her collegiate career. Craggs has a season-high 20 assists for Illinois State while tying her season high with six digs. Libero Sammi Bunch had a match high ten digs while adding three assists. Sophomore Emilija Arsic had a season high seven kills while adding five digs for the Redbirds. Lastly, redshirt senior Logan Grevengoed had a team high three blocks.

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