KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. ? The Indiana State volleyball team won their season opener on Friday, defeating host SIU Edwardsville 3-1 (25-18, 21-25, 25-15, 25-23) in the first round of the SIUE Cougar Classic. It has been seven years since the Sycamores have won their season opener, dating back to 2003 when ISU topped UT-Chattanooga 3-0.
Indiana State (1-0) will play two more games in the SIU Edwardsville Cougar Classic on Saturday as the Sycamores take on Ball State at 11 a.m. (ET) and The Citadel at 5:30 p.m. (ET). Ball State swept The Citadel 3-0 in the first game Friday.
Sophomore outside hitter Morgan Dall posted 22 kills in 61 attempts, both career highs, with just five errors for a .279 attack percentage to lead the Sycamores. It was a homecoming of sorts for Dall who hails from nearby Aviston, Ill., and attended Breese Mater Dei Catholic High School.
Senior outside hitter Ana Maira Charun and junior middle blocker Stacy Qualizza had 11 kills each with Qualizza also picking up five block assists in the game. Junior setter Shelbi Fouty had a career high 28 assists while freshman setter Loni Mackinson added 18 assists and four blocks. Junior libero Kiya James led ISU in digs with 19.
The Sycamores and Cougars played even through the early stages of the opening set before ISU broke away from a 5-all tie to build an 11-6 lead and cruising from there for the 25-18 win. Indiana State rolled to a 7-0 lead early in the second set but then lost their momentum as the Cougars rallied. A four point run late in the set gave SIUE their first lead 22-19 and Indiana State could not recover, losing the set 21-25.
SIU Edwardsville held the advantage early in the first set with ISU getting their first lead, 9-8, on a kill by Charun. Indiana State scored seven of the next nine points in building a 16-10 advantage before a Cougar time out. A 10-2 Sycamore run later in the set push ISU up 23-13 with Indiana State cruising to a 25-15 set win and a 2-1 lead in the game.
Indiana State jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the fourth set but the Cougars rallied to tie the score at seven. The Sycamores were able to keep the advantage but were never able to put the set away as SIUE kept coming back. A 3-0 run late in the set put SIUE up 22-21, their first lead of the set, but the Cougars were not able to hold on. Two kills by Dall, a Charun service ace, and an Auriel Armstrong kill put ISU back on top to win the set 25-23 and the game 3-1.
The Sycamores had one more kill than the Cougars (54-53) but had a .284 attack percentage compared to .172 for SIUE.
SIU Edwardsville will have live stats for each game of the tournament with video/audio for games against SIUE only.
Video (with audio): http://www.siue.edu/tv/
Radio (WSIE ? 88.7 FM and online): http://www.siuecougars.com/multimedia/radio.html
Live Stats: http://www.siue.edu/ATHLETIC/volleyball/xlive.htm
