Redbirds Look To Extend Winning Streak At Home

NORMAL Ill.- The Illinois State Redbirds have been killing it in conference play and are heading into the weekend on a 7 game winning streak where they will host Evansville and Indiana State.

In addition to their 7 game streak, the Birds are also on a 14 set winning streak. Since playing Valparaiso and Bradley in October, 2 games that were pushed into the 5th set, Illinois State has done a tremendous job at closing out games early.

“I think it’s just been like confidence, we beat some of the really good teams in our conference and our whole entire conference is super good… that’s just given us confidence and trust in our play… there’s no doubt that we can win every single game we play” said sophomore outside hitter Kaitlyn Prondzinski about the team’s recent success at sweeping opponents.

Earlier this season the Redbirds fell in 3 sets to the Evansville Purple Aces in one of their early conference games. Leading ISU was freshman Aliyah Moore who finished the night hitting .611% with 12 kills, however the Redbirds were shorthanded and outhit by Evansville. Now, the girls are prepared to even the score Friday.

“Our lineups changed a little bit, so that makes a difference. When we played them last time I was playing middle and now I’m back on the right side… We have Nicole [Lund] back… also we have more film and stats on them so we know what to expect” said Prondzinski on the team’s preparation for Evansville.

Last time against Indiana State, the Redbirds showed off an impressive performance offensively, winning 3-1 over the Sycamores. 3 Redbirds ended the night in the double digits for kills and were led by sophomore Tamara Otene’s 21 kills on .326% hitting and junior Sarah Kushner, who added another double-double to her record.

The Birds are back in action this weekend, taking on Evansville on Friday and Indiana State on Saturday. First serve for both matches is kicking off at 6 p.m. at Redbird Arena.