The Indiana State University's women volleyball won their first tournament of the season when they traveled to Durham, New Hampshire to compete in the Holly Young Invitational tournament.

 

Day One

 

The Sycamores started the Holly Young Invitational at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Friday against UNH.  The Sycamore swept the Wild Cats (25-22, 25-18, 25-19) setting them in the right direction for the tournament. 

"First away tournament, first away game of the season, so we were all just willing to go out and make it our home," said junior outside hitter and right side Morgan Dall.  "We were really pumped up and really excited to get on the road."  

ISU started the first set behind 5-2.  The Sycamores turned things around with a six-point rally.  The rally consisted of two aces by senior defensive specialist Kiya James, one kill from Dall, and a great block by senior middle blocker Stacy Qualizza and by senior setter Loni Mackinson.  The Wild Cats came within one, (23-22), but that did not slow the Sycamores down. Senior setter Shelbi Fouty set Dall up for two kills ending the set 25-22, ISU. 

After a slow start to the second set, the Sycamores finally took the lead at 9-7.  ISU hung in there, bringing their score to 24 and the Wild Cats trailing behind with 16. The Sycamores ended set two 25-19 with a kill by sophomore outside hitter Monique Morris.

ISU started the third set out with a 5-2 lead, consisting of two aces by Morris and a kill by freshman middle blocker Kyla Thomas.  The score became tied at 8 but ISU then went on a 6-0 run bringing the score to 14-8.  The Wild Cats came back to tie the score at 16, but the Sycamores took the Wild Cats down, outscoring them 9-3 to end the set 25-19.

In the first game, Dall lead the team with 13 kills and Fouty lead with 15 assists and 14 digs. 

 

 

Day Two

ISU started day two with a 3-0 win over Connecticut (UCONN).  The final scores for the sets were 25-17, 25-19, and 25-18.

"The team was very confident going into the 2nd match on Saturday," said Traci Dahl, head coach.

The first set started out close, bringing the score to a tie at 8.  Then ISU hit two kills in a row to put them in the lead 10-8.  Mackinson and freshman middle blocker Samantha Kersting were in charge of the kills.  ISU kept ahead and brought their score to 13-8 with another kill by Mackinson.  The Huskies scored 4 straight points putting the score within one at 13-12. Dall had a kill starting the ISU 7-0 run over UCONN.  The game kept going until the score reached 24-17 and Morris ended the first set with a service ace finalizing the first set at 25-17.

In the second set, the Sycamores never lost the lead.  Teams tied twice but, ISU pulled away after the second tie at 6 with 6 straight points.  The Sycamores remained in the lead for the rest of the set bringing the set to an end with a block by Kersting and Mackinson ending the score 25-19. 

In the third set the score was tied 12 times and had seven lead changes.  The Sycamores began to pull away following a 5-0 run bringing the score to 22-17.  The Sycamores went on to win the set 25-18.

"Saturday's match against UCONN, we came out with energy and fight.  Every game started off close in scores.   We pulled away late in each set, we let UCONN make the mistakes, and we executed our plays," said Dahl. 

Dall lead the team in kills with 14, senior defensive specialist Kiya James led with 13 digs, and Mackinson had 20 assists. 

Going into game three of the Holly Young Invitational 2-0, the Sycamores were that much closer to winning the tournament.  Only one thing stood in the way and that was Fairfield. 

After winning six consecutive sets, ISU had a small upset when SIU won the first set, 25-21.  ISU gained their winning streak back and finished the next three sets on top, 25-18, 25-21, and 25-23. 

ISU struggled in the first set with Fairfield taking the lead 9-2. ISU came within two many times, but Fairfield never let the Sycamores take the lead.  The final score ended with Fairfield barely ahead at 25-21. 

"Fairfield was a bit of a slow start. The team really had to dig deep and gain control back after the loss of the first set," Said Traci Dahl, head coach.

During the second set, ISU stepped away with the lead after a block by Qualizza and Dall.  ISU kept moving up, ending the set with two kills by Morris, bringing the score to 25-18, ISU.

Fairfield started with a slight lead in the third set until ISU took it at 4-3 with a kill from Qualizza.  The set stayed close with the teams tied at 13.  Dall put ISU two points ahead with a kill and a service ace.  ISU didn't give up the lead and finished the set 25-21.

Fairfield started the fourth set in control but not for long.  After an 8-0 run by ISU, the score changed from 14-12 SIU to 20-14 ISU.  ISU ended the set with two kills by Morris and Dall, ending the score 25-21.

 "Overall, it was a strong showing on everyone's part," said Dahl.  "Were there times where we became unsure? Of course.  But the team recognized what needed to be done and we made the changes."

Dall was named MVP - most valuable player - of the tournament.

"I was really happy, really proud of myself, especially coming out on the first away tournament of the season. I just really want to play my hardest and play like I knew how," Dall said.  "The weekend before that I struggled a little bit with a couple different things.  I just tried to focus on the things I struggled with the weekend before and perfect them this weekend and came out strong, just played my game and I was just confident with it."

Dall lead the team with 24 kills, Fouty had the most assists at 23, and James had 27 digs.  This win brings the Sycamores to 7-3 on the season.

"The team took home with them a tournament championship that was hard fought," Dahl said.  "The team needed to learn how to fight when they were down, and they did just that.  They wanted to win, and they wanted it bad."