Indiana State to host Bradley Braves
at 7 p.m. Saturday in ISU Arena
KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, IND. ? For a set and a half, fans of Indiana State Sycamore volleyball got to see the kind of team that head coach Traci Dahl knew her squad was capable of being. The Sycamores may have won a battle by winning a set from the 14th ranked Northern Iowa Panthers but they lost the war as UNI took a 3-1 (25-12, 25-8, 23-25, 25-14) victory away from ISU Arena Friday night.
Indiana State drops to 8-13 overall and 0-8 in the Valley. The Sycamores will host the Bradley Braves (4-12, 0-7 MVC) in another Valley matchup at 7 p.m. (ET) Saturday in the ISU Arena. Northern Iowa improved to 18-2 overall and 9-0 in the Valley, racking up their 27th straight regular season Missouri Valley Conference win in the process.
Sophomore Morgan Dall led the Sycamore offense with 13 kills while junior Shelbi Fouty had 26 assists and 13 digs, her fourth double-double of the season. Krista DeGeest had 13 kills, Beth Disher 12, and Michelle Burow 11 for the Panthers while Bre Payton had 41 assists and Ellie Blankenship 25 digs.
The Sycamores could not get going in the first two sets of the game as Northern Iowa dominated for a 25-12 win in the opening set and a 25-8 victory in the second set. But things changed after the intermission.
Indiana State was determined to show the Panthers, and their fans, just what they were made of in the third set, rallying from a 2-0 early deficit to take their first lead of the game at 3-2. The Sycamores temporarily lost the advantage as UNI rallied for a 4-3 lead but ISU stormed back to score five straight and take an 8-4 lead.
Although the third set was tied two more times, Indiana State never let the Panthers gain the advantage over them. Northern Iowa was able to rally and tie the score at 20 but kills by Ana Maira Charun and Dall along with a Panther error pushed the ISU lead back to 23-20. UNI cut the lead to 23-20 before Charun put the Sycamores at set point, 24-22, with a kill. The Panthers got the next point but Dall scoring the winning point on a kill off a Fouty set to give ISU a 25-23 victory.
The fourth set started out just as competitive as the third with neither team able to pull away through the early going. ISU had a 10-8 lead after a service ace from junior Kiya James but the Panthers rallied to go up 11-10. Indiana State tied the set for the final time at 11 on a kill by sophomore Auriel Armstrong. UNI then rolled off eight straight points to take a commanding 19-11 lead and the Sycamores could not fight their way back into the battle.
In Northern Iowa's nine league wins this season they have only lost four sets, one each to Creighton, Drake, Evansville, and now Indiana State.
