Women’s volleyball defeats Evansville Purple Aces and SIU Salukis in weekend conference matchups

ISU vs. Evansville

Indiana State women's volleyball hit the road, for the final away game of the season, to take on the Evansville Purple Aces Friday night.  The Sycamores swept Evansville 3-0, final set scores 25-20, 25-22 and 25-17.

"I cannot say enough about the effort and determination this team has," head coach Traci Dahl said.  "They want to win. They have worked hard and we have faced a lot of adversity this year. I am so proud of each and every one of them."

This was ISU's first away win in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) this season.

Set one started with an early lead from the Sycamores, but the Purple Aces were not going down that easy.  Evansville fought back to tie the score at 5 and again at 6.  The last tie was broken with a service ace by sophomore outside hitter and right side Molly Murphy.  A kill by sophomore outside hitter Monique Morris brought the score to 9-6, ISU, and they never lost the lead.  Evansville came within one on many occasions but the Sycamores did not let them pass.  A block by Murphy and freshman middle blocker Samatha Kersting ended set one.  Final score 25-20, ISU.

Set two was a tighter match.  Throughout the set, the score tied seven times and there were five lead changes.  Evansville's last lead was ended by back to back kills from senior middle blocker Stacy Qualizza putting ISU in the lead, for good, at 20-19.  After a kill by Murphy and senior setter Shelbi Fouty, ISU came to a lead of 24-21.  A final Murphy kill ended the Sycamores' score at 25 and the game at 25-22, ISU.

Set three was another close match as the game tied seven times and changed leaders twice.  Both of the lead changes came early in the set, and Evansville had an early advantage, but not for long.  Two Qualizza kills put the Sycamores in the lead 7-6.  Evansville tied the set for the final time at 7, but two more Qualizza kills brought ISU to a 9-7 advantage.  The Sycamores started to slowly pull away.  The game winning point came from a Qualizza kill assisted by Fouty.  Final set score 25-17, ISU, and a 3-0 win by the Sycamores.

Qualizza recorded the second highest single-game hitting percentage in school history as she led the Sycamores to the win, knocking down 23 kills with no errors on 31 attempts for a career high.  Qualizza also led in blocks with five.

Fouty led the team with 34 assists and senior defensive specialist Kiya James led the team with 15 digs.

ISU vs. Southern Illinois University

ISU women's volleyball wrapped up their final away weekend of the season against Southern Illinois University Saturday night.  The Sycamores won the game 3-1, final set scores 25-20, 25-23, 21-25, and 25-13.  This marks the team's first back-to-back road victories in the MVC since 2003.  

This brought the Sycamores to a 13-13 on the overall season and a 5-10 in the MVC.

ISU started out with a 6-0 lead in the first set, but Southern Illinois came back and tied the score at 8 and again at 9.  The last tie was broken by a Morris kill and a block by junior middle blocker Shea Doran and Kersting putting the Sycamores back in the lead 11-9.  ISU slowly started to extend their lead, with their biggest advantage at 24-15 after an ace by Fouty.  The Salukis did not give up easy and denied the Sycamores set point four times before ISU finally closed it out.  Final set score was 25-20, ISU.

Set two did not start out as well as set one with the Salukis scoring the first five points.  ISU remained behind most of set two, but never stopped fighting.  The Sycamores fought to tie the score at 14, 15 and again at 16 before a kill by Doran gave ISU their first lead.  A Murphy kill, followed by a block by Qualizza and Doran put ISU in a 19-17 lead.  SIU rallied to take a final lead at 20-19, before ISU fought back again and took the lead for good.  A Qualizza block and a service ace by James put the Sycamores at a 23-21.  ISU closed out set one with a 25-23 win.