NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State volleyball team scored a 3-0 sweep of visiting Northern Iowa Saturday night at Redbird Arena in front of 1,533 fans that came out for the team's "Paint the Arena Pink" match. Illinois State won by scores of 25-15, 25-22, 25-17.
Aly Dawson led the Redbirds with 14 kills, while Jaelyn Keene added 10 more. Jacqueline Twing dished out a match-high 38 assists and Courtney Pence led the team with 24 digs.
The Redbirds shot out to an early lead and never looked back in the first set. Illinois State (12-5, 2-2 MVC) scored the first four points of the match and later used a 6-0 run to pull away. The Redbirds finished off the set with a kill from Dawson.
Northern Iowa (9-9, 3-2) grabbed an early lead in the second set, but the Redbirds used an eight-point binge to gain the lead. The Panthers came within one point of the lead late in the set, at 23-22, but the Redbirds scored the final two points on kills from Dawson and Keene, to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set followed a similar script, as the Redbirds used a 9-1 run early to take control. Northern Iowa never seriously threatened the Illinois State lead after the run, and Ashley Rosch helped the Redbirds close out the win with kills on three of the final four points of the match.
Â
Illinois State paired with the American Cancer Society for Saturday's "Paint the Arena Pink" event, which drew the biggest crowd of the season to Redbird Arena.
The Redbirds will return to action next weekend with matches at Loyola Friday and Bradley Saturday. Both matches will be broadcast live on ESPN3. Links for live video, audio and stats are available at GoRedbirds.com. Fans can also receive live updates via Twitter, by following @RedbirdVB.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
