TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State volleyball will play host to Southern Illinois and Missouri State this weekend at the ISU Arena. The Sycamores open the weekend Friday at 7 p.m. with the Salukis before hosting the Bears Saturday at 7 p.m. Both matches are free to attend and will be streamed live on The Valley On ESPN3.
OPENING SERVE
It took just 11 Missouri Valley Conference matches to surpass last season's conference win total. With a weekend sweep of Valpo and Loyola. The Sycamores sit at 5-5 and fifth in The Valley standings.
Junior
Laura Gross leads the Sycamore attack with 267 kills this season. She leads the team by nearly one more kill per set with 3.22. The Potomac, Illinois product has recorded nine matches with 15+ more kills and ranks second on the team in total digs with 300. Gross ranks 3rd in The Valley and 42nd in the country with 11.18 attacks per set.
Sophomore
Cassie Kawa sits second in The Valley with a .346 attacking percent through 82 sets. Kawa, a middle blocker for the Sycamores has 197 (2.40 k/s) this season which is second on the squad. The Alberta, Canada native has hit over .300 in 15 matches this season for the Sycamores, including a season best .529 against Bradley.
Sarah Peterson has 171 kills (2.06 k/s) for the Sycamores this season, hitting .179 in 83 sets. The outside hitter has accounted for 197.0 points for the Sycamores, which ranks third on the squad. She has recorded a kill in every match she has played this season with a season high 13 kills coming against Drake (10/7).
Defensively, Indiana State has two of the top blockers in the MVC in sophomore
Damadj Johnson and freshman
Nikkie White. The duo has combined for 139 of the teams' 251 blocks this season. Johnson has 17 multi-block matches while White has 16 on the season.
Libero
Stephanie Bindernagel leads the team on the defensive side of the ball with a team-high 400 dig. Bindernagel averages 4.65 digs per set to lead the team and has had 10 or more digs in all but one match this season with a season-best 38-dig performance coming against IUPUI.
Senior setter
Rachel Griffin made history against SIU (9/30) earlier this season when she recorded her 2,000th career assist against the Salukis. Griffin is just the 11th player to reach the mark in program history and the first to do so since Erika Nord reached the milestone in 2015.
ISU earned its 19th straight AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2016 season. The streak is the longest among all schools and ties Drury University (Division II) for the longest streak in the nation.
THE OPPOSITION
Southern Illinois comes into the weekend with a 4-17 overall record and a 3-7 mark in Valley action, but are currently on a six-match losing streak. SIU's last win came against Evansville Sep. 29. Andrea Estrada paces Southern with 2.46 kills per set and 3.10 digs per set.
The Salukis lead the all-time series over Indiana State 18-49, but the Sycamores ended SIU's five match winning streak earlier this season in Carbondale, downing SIU, 3-1.
Missouri State is undefeated in Valley play entering the weekend at 10-0 and are riding an 11-match winning streak. The Bears are led by Lily Johnson who is averaging 4.33 kills per set and 3.93 digs per set.
The Sycamores will have their work cut out for them as Missouri State holds a 62-2 all-time record against ISU and have reeled off 48-straight wins in the series. ISU's last win over Missouri State came in 1994 in a 3-2 win in Springfield. The Sycamores defeated MSU on a neutral floor in 1989, 3-0.
For the latest information on the Sycamore Volleyball team, make sure to check out
GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including
Facebook, Twitter and
Instagram.
