Oct. 12, 2013
Final Stats
NORMAL, Ill. -- The Missouri State volleyball team nearly handed Illinois State its first Missouri Valley Conference loss of the season Saturday, but the Redbirds used critical runs to close the second and fourth sets and earn a 3-1 win at Redbird Arena. Set scores in favor of ISU were 25-16, 25-23, 18-25, 27-25.
The Bears fell to 11-8 overall and 3-4 in MVC matches despite 19 kills from Olivia Brand, the most by a Missouri State player this season. Illinois State remained perfect in the league at 7-0 and 14-4 overall.
Illinois State hit .371 in the first set to earn a comfortable win, and closed the second set on an 8-2 run to take a 2-0 lead into intermission. The Bears saw their 21-17 lead erased with a 5-0 ISU run before Simone House's kill tied the score at 22-22. Missouri State briefly regained the lead at 23-22, but the Redbirds scored the final three points with two blocks and an MSU attack error for the 25-23 win.
A pair of big runs keyed the Bears in the third set on the way to a 17-9 lead. The first included kills from Karen Rivatto and House and a Tatum Marshall ace during a 5-0 spurt to lead 10-7, and Brand had two kills and a block with Kaitlin Jaeger in a 6-0 run for a 17-9 MSU advantage. Another MSU block made the score 20-12, and the Redbirds got no closer than five points from there as the Bears out-hit ISU .297-.082 in the set.
The fourth set went back and forth several times to a 19-all tie. Brand gave MSU the lead with a kill and Rivatto added two more for a 22-19 advantage when Illinois State ripped off a 5-0 run to gain match point at 24-22. Amber Doolittle and Kayln Vlasin blocked an ISU attack and House followed with a kill for 24-24, and a Redbird error gave MSU a set point chance at 25-24, but another untimely Redbird run came at the Bears' expense as the home team fired off three straight kills for the 27-25 win.
In addition to Brand's offensive effort, Rivatto had a season-high 15 kills and House established a career high with eight on .368 hitting.
Missouri State hit .195 compared to .182 for the Redbirds and held a 81-66 lead in digs. Each team had 56 kills, but ISU's leads of 16-8 in total blocks and 6-4 in service aces made the difference.
The Bears close the month of October with five matches at Hammons Student Center, beginning Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. against Loyola.
