KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, IND. ? The Indiana Sycamores fought well against the Creighton Bluejays Saturday night in the ISU Arena but could not pick up the win, losing three close sets 20-25, 22-25, 17-25.
Indiana State falls to 7-13 overall and 1-7 in the MVC with the loss. The Sycamores will travel to Wright State on Tuesday and then host the Illinois State Redbirds next Friday night. First serve in both matches is scheduled for 7 p.m. (ET). Creighton is now 8-7 overall and 5-2 in the Valley.
For the second straight match, Kelli Whitaker led the Sycamores in kills, getting 11 against the Bluejays. Stacy Qualizza had nine. Whitney Fromm contributed 31 set assists with Shelbi Fouty and Kristy Cox each picking up eight digs.
Even though the Sycamores lost all three sets, they were never far behind and had a shot in each of the sets to pick up a win.
Creighton had a 20-11 lead midway through the first set but the Sycamores fought back, rallying to cut the deficit to four at 24-20 before the Bluejays were able to get the final point.
The Bluejays had a 15-9 lead midway through the second set with the Sycamores again showing that they could come back, rallying to tie the set at 20 on a Qualizza kill, at 21 on another Qualizza kill, and for a third time at 22 off a Whitaker kill. Creighton was able to score three straight points to put ISU down 2-0 heading into the break.
In the third set, Indiana State kept Creighton close for most of the set with the Sycamores down just a point, 15-14, when the Bluejays called time out. Creighton came off the timeout and outscored ISU 10-3 the rest of the rest to take the set win and the match.
The Sycamores had 107 attack attempts and connected on 36 with just 10 errors for a .243 attack percentage. The Bluejays had 118 attempts with 54 kills and 13 errors for a .347 attack percentage.
