GAME ONE VS. KANSAS STATE
CORAL GABLES, Fla – The Illinois State volleyball team fought off six match points in the fifth set before Kansas State claimed the win in a tightly-contested match at the Hurricane Invitational Saturday morning at the James L. Knight Sports Complex. Kansas State won by scores of 23-25, 25-21, 25-27, 25-12, 19-17.
Aly Dawson, Jaelyn Keene and Ashley Rosch tallied 16 kills each in the loss for Illinois State (0-2), while libero Courtney Pence collected 34 digs, tied for the seventh-most digs in a match in program history. Lexi Varga added 14 kills and 15 digs, while Dawson and Rosch chipped in 20 digs apiece.
Annchara Montgomery mixed in eight kills and a match-high six blocks, while the setting duo of Jacqueline Twing and Jordan Weatherless contributed 38 and 26 assists, respectively.
“We had a great start in this match and overall played better this morning,” said Illinois State head coach Melissa Myers. “We’re still working out some details, but the team showed resiliency and grit when they executed late in set five. This team will only continue to learn from these matches and get better.”
Kansas State (2-0) led early in the first set until the Redbirds used a 6-1 rally to take a 13-12 lead. A tight set continued with six tied scores from that point on – the final time at 23-23 – before a Varga kill and a Kansas State ball-handling error sealed the first-set win.
Neither team held a lead of more than four points in the second set, which featured nine ties and four lead changes. The Wildcats finished strong with a 7-2 run to close out the set, knotting the match up at one set apiece.
A tightly-contested third set also came down to the final points. The Redbirds fought off a pair of Kansas State set points before getting a set point of their own when Rosch broke a 25-25 tie with her 12th kill of the match. Keene then finished off the set with her 11th kill of the day.
Kansas State controlled the fourth set from start to finish, winning by a 13-point margin that marked the biggest lead of the day for either team.
The Wildcats maintained the momentum and never trailed in the fifth set. Kansas State got to a match point at 14-11, but the Redbirds scored three-straight points to tie the game at 14-14. The teams then traded points for the next six points, with the Redbirds fighting off three more set points before Kansas State closed out the win with a kill from Alyssa Schultejans.
GAME TWO VS. FLORIDA A&M
Jaelyn Keene turned in a career performance and the Illinois State volleyball team secured its first victory of the 2015 season with a 3-0 win over Florida A&M Saturday night at the Hurricane Invitational at James L. Knight Sports Complex. The Redbirds won by scores of 25-13, 25-19, 25-10.
Keene posted 16 kills and a .842 hitting percentage, the third-best hitting percentage in program history. Keene tallied her 16 kills on just 19 attempts, without committing an error.
Jordan Weatherless dished out a team-high 14 assists and Courtney Pence tallied 13 digs as head coach Melissa Myers used 14 players in the win.
“The team did a great job of starting strong and staying consistent in this match,” Myers said. “Other than a few unforced errors in the second set, we were pretty efficient most of the match.”
Illinois State (1-2) took control right from the start, scoring the first three points of the first set. Florida A&M (0-3) kept it close and trailed by just three points midway through the set until the Redbirds went on an 8-0 binge to make it 23-12. Kills from Keene and Rosch sealed the first-set victory for the Redbirds.
Illinois State fell into an early hole in the second set as the Rattlers grabbed a 9-2 lead. The Redbirds chipped away at the lead, eventually tying it at 13-13, and scored two points for every Florida A&M point the rest of the way to win the second set.
The Redbirds continued to roll in the third set, shooting out to a 9-1 lead. Weatherless capped the win with a service ace, which was one of 10 for the Redbirds in the match.
Illinois State returns to action next weekend at the Harvard Invitational, Sept. 4-5, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Redbirds’ opponents there will be Long Beach State, Harvard and Rutgers.
