TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State volleyball will play its 11th and 12th matches away from home this weekend when the team visits Missouri State Friday and Southern Illinois Saturday. The Sycamores take with them a 2-0 mark in Missouri Valley Conference action for the first time in program history.
The Sycamores and Bears will take the court Friday at 8 p.m. ET and can be seen on The Valley On ESPN 3 while SIU and Indiana State will get underway at 8 p.m. ET Saturday.
The Sycamores are coming off back-to-back wins over Evansville and Bradley at home last weekend. ISU took the match on Friday over the Aces in five sets before defeating Bradley in four sets Monday evening.
Cassie Kawa has been very efficient for the Sycamores this season, leading the Missouri Valley Conference in hitting percentage at .383 with 137 kills on 264 attacks. The sophomore sits second on the squad with 2.58 kills per set.
Senior setter
Rachel Griffin is closing in on history as she sits at 1,966 career assists after 14 matches this season. The Avon, Indiana native would become just the 10th player in program history to record 2,000 assists and the first to do so since Loni Mackinson did in 2013.
The Sycamore offense runs through junior transfer
Laura Gross. The Potomac, Illinois product ranks 25th nationally with 11.79 attacks per set. She leads the team with 3.51 kills per set and had 200 kills through 14 matches for the Sycamores. Gross has 10 double-doubles in 14 matches for the Trees, including four in consecutive matches.
Libero
Stephanie Bindernagel is closing in on 300 digs this season. The senior averages 4.60 digs per set and has recorded 15 or more digs in 10 matches this season for ISU, with a season high 38 digs against IUPUI (9/8).
Senior
Sarah Peterson has upped her attacking percentage of late, improving to .185 for third-best on the team. Peterson has is the third Sycamore to reach 100 kills this season and is averaging 2.00 kills per set.
The defensive front for the Sycamores dominated against Cal State-Fullerton. As a team, ISU came away with 16 blocks in the match, setting a new season best in the category. ISU allowed just two points to CSF in the fifth set en route to a 15-2 win. The Sycamores notched six blocks in the final set alone.
Damadj Johnson finished with 10 block assists in the match while freshman
Nikkie White added eight block assists and two solo blocks.
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
The Sycamores will have their work cut out for them as Missouri State holds a 61-2 all-time record against ISU and have reeled off 47-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.
The Salukis lead the all-time series over Indiana State 17-49, winning the last five matches in the series. The Sycamores are 8-23 against SIU in Carbondale.
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.
