By WJBC Staff
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The Illinois State volleyball team overcame a big deficit in the first set to steal momentum away from Southern Illinois and the Redbirds ran away with a 3-0 win in a quarterfinal match at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Thursday at the McLeod Center.
Southern Illinois rushed out to an eight-point lead early in the first set of Thursday’s match, but the Redbirds fought back to win the set. Illinois State cruised to a 2-0 lead with a win in the second set, then overcame another early SIU lead in the third set to finish off the sweep.
Jaelyn Keene and Aly Dawson tallied 14 kills apiece to pace the Redbird attack, while Ella Francis chipped in nine kills. Jordan Weatherless dished out 24 of the Redbirds’ 44 assists. Lexi Varga collected a team-high 15 digs, and was one of four Redbirds – along with Annchara Montgomery, Keene and Weatherless – to register three blocks.
Illinois State hit .362 for the match Thursday, good enough for the seventh-best mark in MVC Tournament history.
“I liked the way we stepped up in tough situations. We had a big deficit in the first set and both Jaelyn and Ella had big runs to get us back in the match,” said Illinois State head coach Melissa Myers. “Once we got momentum, you saw a shift in our confidence. I thought it was a great overall effort tonight.”
Southern Illinois grabbed an early lead in the opening set, scoring the first four points and running out to a 12-4 lead. The Redbirds promptly answered with an 11-2 run to take a 15-4 lead. Later with the Redbirds nursing a one-point lead, ISU went on a five-point run to get to set point, and finished off the comeback with a kill from Keene.
The Redbirds carried momentum into the second set and never trailed as they took a 2-0 lead in the match. Dawson and Varga tallied four kills each in the set. Francis got the Redbirds to a set point and Dawson finished it off there with her eighth kill of the match.
The Redbirds had to overcome another big deficit in the third set as the Salukis led by as many as six points early on. The Redbirds slowly chipped away at the lead, though, and used an eight-point binge to flip a four-point deficit into a four-point lead. Kills down the stretch from Dawson and Francis, and back-to-back blocks from Keene and Varga, helped the Redbirds complete the sweep.
With the win, Illinois State advances to face top-seeded Missouri State (25-7) in a tournament semifinal match at 5 p.m. Friday at the McLeod Center.
Additionally, Courtney Pence was named the Missouri Valley Conference’s Libero of the Year at an awards presentation at the McLeod Center Thursday prior to the start of the MVC Tournament. Additionally, Pence and teammate Jaelyn Keene earned All-MVC First-Team honors, while Ella Francis was named to the league’s all-freshman team.
The all-conference first-team selection is the third-straight honor for Keene. Pence, an All-MVC Second-Team and all-freshman team pick a year ago, moved up to the first team this season. Francis, meanwhile, was one of six league newcomers named to the all-freshman team.
Pence, a sophomore libero from Springfield, Illinois, became Illinois State’s third player and fourth selection in the past five years, joining Jenny Menendez and Emily Orrick . Pence led The Valley in digs per set for the second year in a row, while ranking sixth nationally. She broke Illinois State’s single-match digs record with 44 in a five-set win at Northern Iowa on Sept. 16, before tallying 39 in a three-set win over Bradley on Sept. 24, the most digs by an NCAA Division I player in any three-set match this season. Pence’s dig totals against UNI and Bradley rank as the two highest in the conference this season.
Keene, a junior middle blocker from Jacksonville, Illinois, earned her third-consecutive all-conference nod after tallying 340 kills, 107 blocks and 46 aces. She led the conference in aces and aces per set, while ranking second in hitting percentage and points per set. A three-time All-MVC First-Team pick as a junior, Keene will enter her senior season next year with a chance to become just the second player in program history to be a four-time first-team all-conference pick.
Francis, a freshman outside hitter from Prior Lake, Minnesota, made valuable contributions in her first season on the team, ranking fourth in kills per set and fourth in total kills. She tallied a career-high 14 kills versus Rice on Sept. 3 and posted eight or more kills in 11 matches overall.
