KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, IND. ? The Indiana State volleyball team closed out the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-15) win over the visiting Chicago State Cougars Thursday before 233 fans in the ISU Arena.
The Sycamores, now 8-5 on the season, will open the Missouri Valley Conference season on Friday by hosting the Illinois State Redbirds (8-3). The eight wins surpasses last season's total of seven wins and equals the total number of wins posted by the 2008 team, Traci Dahl's first year as the Sycamore coach.
Sophomore Morgan Dall continues to lead the Sycamore offense, knocking down 15 kills while recording her ninth double-double in 13 games this season with 10 digs in addition to the kills. Sophomore Auriel Armstrong and Christie Fullenkamp had six kills each with junior Stacy Qualizza and sophomore Shea Doran adding five each.
Junior Shelbi Fouty led the team in assists with 21 while freshman Loni Mackinson had 10. Kiya James had 11 digs while Qualizza also had three blocks.
The Sycamores struggled to put the Cougars away in the opening set as Chicago State went point for point with Indiana State for most of the opening set. ISU had a six point lead late in the set at 20-14 but CSU fought back and came within a point of tying the set at 23-22. The Sycamores were able to hold on for the 25-23 set win, picking up the victory on an Qualizza kill off a Mackinson set.
The second set was close early but the Sycamores used a 6-2 run midway through the set to build a 19-12 advantage. The Cougars kept fighting back but Indiana State was able to keep momentum and scored the 25-15 set win on a Cougar error. There was no question of which way the third set would go right from the outset as the Sycamores jumped out to an 8-0 lead and never looked back, securing the victory with a 25-15 set win.
Indiana State finished with 40 kills on the night and a .232 hitting percentage while holding the Cougars to 23 kills and an .011 hitting percentage.
The 1996 team was the last Sycamore square to start the season with an 8-5 record, a mark that was matched by the 1994, 1986, and 1977 teams before this year's squad equaled that record. Only the 1989 team (10-3) and the 1982 team (12-1) had better records after the first 13 games.
