ISU vs. Bradley University

Indiana State University women's volleyball team defeated Bradley University 3-2 (29-27, 21-25, 22-25, 25-21, 15-13) Friday  night. 

In set one, ISU took the lead after breaking a tie score at 3 with a rally that ended with a kill from sophomore outside hitter Monique Morris assisted by sophomore setter Loni Mackinson.  ISU was winning set one 19-12 before Bradley started to catch up.  The Braves came back to tie the score at 23-23, then had a service error that put ISU back in the lead at 24-23.  The score tied four more times before junior outside hitter and right side Morgan Dall broke the last tie at 27 with a kill assisted by Mackinson, putting the Sycamores in the lead 28-27.  An attack error by Bradley ended the set 29-27, ISU. 

"We didn't always have control of the first game, and our thing is we want to make sure we maintain control," Traci Dahl, ISU women's volleyball head coach said.  "We pulled off that first game, but the thing about it is we were up by a good lead, and we let them crawl back, and we can't let that happen."

Set two and three did not end in favor of the Sycamores.  Bradley got a far lead in the second set, but ISU kept fighting.  ISU was down 12-22 but had two back-to-back rallies that brought their score up to 21-23.  The rallies included four kills from Dall and one kill from freshman middle blocker Samantha Kersting.  ISU came close but not close enough; Bradley finished the set out with two kills ending the score at 21-25, Bradley. 

The Sycamores jumped to a 6-1 lead in the third set, including a service ace by Kersting.  ISU remained in the lead until the score was tied at 20 where Bradley took over.  ISU's final two points came from a Bradley service error and senior middle blocker Stacy Qualizza's kill assisted by Morris.  The set ended 22-25, Bradley.

Even though Bradley scored the first point, ISU gained back control on the fourth set and never lost the lead.  It was a close game and tied three times.   

"Fourth game, I think we were all just angry, we knew we could win," Morris said.  "I think we went into the fourth set with the mindset we're not going let any balls drop, we're going to put these balls away, we're going to definitely block them.  So we went into it with confidence, and that definitely played to our advantage," said Morris. 

Morris shut down the Braves with two kills in a row, assisted by Mackinson, ending set four's score at 25-21, ISU.  ISU and Bradley went into set five tied 2-2; it was anyone's game.

ISU was down 4-9 in the fifth set.  The Sycamores stepped up and had a five-point rally getting them within one.  Bradley lost the lead after five consecutive errors putting the score at 14-13, ISU.  The Sycamores finished off the Braves with a kill from Dall assisted by Mackinson, ending set five at 15-13, ISU. 

"In the fifth set being down like that, that showed true heart, and I felt that we had some key players that were new to the lineup that stepped up," Dahl said. 

ISU had 69 kills on the night.  Morris broke her career high once again with 22 kills.  Kersting had a career high as well with 10 kills.   Mackinson led in assists with 58, and senior defensive specialist Kiya James led with 27 digs. 

 

ISU  vs. UNI

Indiana State women's volleyball fell short of a victory against 14th ranked University of Northern Iowa last Saturday, final set scores being 11-25, 11-25, and 17-25.

"Regardless of the scoreboard, I feel that some of my key players made some really good moves tonight," Dahl said.  "I feel good about some of the plays where we had our hitters one up, and we annihilated the ball on those particular plays, and that's going to help us in the future with the teams we are playing."   

ISU was first on the board in set one, but did not score again. Dall had a kill assisted by Mackinson.  The Panthers rallied for a lead of 2-13.  With two kills, a service ace by Mackinson, and six Panther errors brought the Sycamores score to 11 but was not enough to catch up to UNI. Set one ended 11-25, UNI. 

ISU had a slow start in the second set.  The Panthers led the Sycamores 5-0 but were stopped with a kill by sophomore outside hitter Ashley Owen assisted by Mackinson.  Mackinson assisted Morris for a kill, senior middle blocker Stacy Qualizza for two kills and Dall for two kills.  Although the Sycamores put up a tough fight, UNI took the win of set two at 11-25.

ISU kicked off set three with a kill by Dall, assisted by Mackinson, but did not score again until Owen had a kill bringing the score to 2-7.  Morris had 5 more kills, Kersting had a kill, and Dall had two more kills on the night.  UNI won set three with a score 17-25, winning the whole game. 

"We are going to get better in practice everyday and just try to better ourselves individually, and then we will come in as a team," said senior defensive specialist Kiya James. 

 Morris lead the Sycamores with eight kills, Mackinson lead with 20 assists and tied with James with nine digs.  The Sycamores return to the ISU Arena Oct. 7 to take on Southern Illinois University.