KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, IND. ? The volleyball match between the Indiana State Sycamores and Eastern Illinois Panthers was not for the faint of heart Friday in the ISU Arena as the two rivals battled fiercely for every point. The Sycamores would not let this one get away from them, however, outlasting the Panthers for a three-set (25-23, 25-22, 27-25) victory in the second game of the Best Western Classic.
“This is just what this team needed,” Traci Dahl, Indiana State head volleyball coach, said. “There were points where this team could have let a win slip away but they fought back not once, but several times to earn this victory.”
Indiana State improves to 2-6 on the season and will play two more matches on Saturday. The Sycamores will meet the Chicago State Cougars at 1 p.m. (ET) and then go up against the Ball State Cardinals at 7 p.m. (ET) in the ISU Arena.
Ball State opened the tournament with a 3-0 (25-8, 25-10, 25-12) victory over Chicago State. The Cardinals and Panthers will meet at 10 a.m. (ET) Saturday with the Cougars and Panthers playing at 4:30 p.m. (ET).
Freshman Morgan Dall (Aciston, Ill.) paced the Sycamore winning effort with 10 kills and three blocks.
“What can you say about Morgan,” Dahl said. “She came out to play and picked up some big kills when we needed them.”
Senior Whitney Fromm (Snohomish, Wash.) had a season high 34 set assists to go along with 10 digs on the night. Sophomore Kiya James (Indianapolis, Ind.) had 12 digs. Sophomore Stacy Qualizza (Crown Point, Ind.) contributed four kills and a team high five blocks.
There were 11 ties and six lead changes in the first set as both teams battled to get an advantage over the other. The Sycamores forged to a 14-10 lead after a Fromm service ace before Eastern Illinois called a time out. EIU came back and went up 17-15 but Indiana State rallied with a pair of Jodilynne Stoker (Ames, Iowa) kills to go back on top 18-17.
The set was tied for the final time at 19 when the Sycamores got the lead off a Panther error and never looked back. Indiana State went up by two off a Shelbi Fouty (Plainfield, Ind.) and stayed in front, taking the 25-23 win on an Ana Maira Charun (Lima, Peru) kill.
The Sycamores lost the momentum midway through the second set, trailing 15-8 before Dall got ISU back on track with a kill. Qualizza and Kelli Whitaker (New Palestine, Ind.) each had a kill and Stephanie Volden (McFarland, Wis.) scored on a service ace as ISU fought back to trail 15-13.
Indiana State had to keep fighting back the rest of the way, taking their first lead at 21-20 off a Whitaker kill. Dall scored two of ISU's final four points, including the set winner, as the Sycamore rallied to take the second set 25-22.
The third set was just as much a barn burner as the first two. Both teams surged to four point leads during the set but neither team could hold the lead. EIU had a 24-23 lead and looked to take their first set win of the night but Volden scored on a kill to tie the set at 24. Eastern went back up 25-24 but could not hold the lead, giving up a point on an error to tie the set for the final time.
Volden put ISU back on top for the final time her second service ace of the night and the Sycamores picked up the win when Whitaker and Qualizza blocked an attack by EIU's Jessica Wheeler.
Ana Maira Charun had nine kills for Indiana State with Whitaker nailing down seven, Volden six, stoker five and Qualizza four. The Sycamores had a hitting percentage of .204 while holding the Panthers to just .124 for the night.
