Sycamore volleyball is in a must win situation as they continue their quest to reach the Missouri Valley Conference post-season tournament for the first time since the 2004 season. Indiana State, Evansville and Southern Illinois each have three Valley wins which is just two less than Drake who currently holds down the sixth spot in the conference standings. The top six teams at the end of the regular season advance to the MVC post-season.

Illinois State (15-10, 7-6 MVC) is the Sycamores travel partner in the Valley and will visit Southern Illinois on Friday before visiting Evansville on Saturday. The Redbirds are currently fifth in the Valley standings.

Five games remain on the Sycamore conference schedule with three of those games on the home court where Indiana State is 7-6 overall and 3-3 in conference play. Indiana State is 2-7 on opponent court's this season and are still looking for their first Valley road win of the 2011 campaign.

First Time Around -

The Sycamores let the second set slip away from them but regained their composure to win the final two sets of the game to defeat the Evansville Purple Aces 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-23, 25-11) in a Missouri Valley Conference contest played in the ISU Arena on Oct. 8. Sophomore Monique Morris led the way for Indiana State with 19 kills while senior Stacy Qualizza added 17 and sophomore Molly Murphy 10. Senior Shelby Fouty had 39 assists while Morris also recorded a game high 21 digs to pace the defense. Freshman Samantha Kersting had four solo blocks. Senior Kiya James had 16 digs, sophomore Loni Mackinson 15, and Murphy 10 for Indiana State in the game.

Indiana State volleyball dominated the opening set but led leads slip away in the next two and eventually lost to the visiting Southern Illinois Salukis 1-3 (25-18, 22-25, 23-25, 13-25) in a Missouri Valley Conference contest played in the ISU Arena on Oct. 7. It was another career night for a pair of Sycamores as sophomore outside hitter Molly Murphy knocked down 14 kills in 43 attempts, both career highs, and junior right side Shea Doran had 12 kills in 32 attempts, also both career highs. Sophomore outside hitter Monique Morris had 14 kills while senior middle blocker Stacy Qualizza had 10 kills and four blocks. Senior setter Shelbi Fouty posted her sixth double-double of the season in leading Indiana State with 41 assists and 21 digs. Senior Kiya James had 12 digs and Murphy added 11 digs which gave the sophomore her second double-double of the season.

Last Time Out -

The Indiana State Sycamores could not pick up a win over visiting Creighton on Oct. 28 in the ISU Arena as the Bluejays swept the Sycamores 3-0 (25-21, 25-9, 25-19) in a Missouri Valley Conference contest. Monique Morris led the Sycamore offense with 11 kills while Morgan Dall returned to the lineup after missing the last seven games and recorded eight kills. Loni Mackinson had 24 assists with Kiya James picking up 12 digs and Samantha Kersting recording ISU's only two blocks of the contest.

Indiana State kept their post-season hopes alive with a dominating performance against the visiting Drake Bulldogs on Oct. 29, posting a 3-1 (29-27, 20-25, 25-13, 25-17) Missouri Valley Conference win in the ISU Arena. The Sycamores received a big effort from their top three hitters as junior Morgan Dall recorded 18 kills, senior Stacey Qualizza 17, and sophomore Monique Morris 16. Senior Shelbi Fouty recorded 49 assists while senior Kiya James had 25 digs. Junior Shea Doran and Qualizza had two blocks each. Fouty recorded her 1,600 career assist in the game and has 1,646 in her career which is eighth best on the ISU all-time list.

Sycamores match 2010 win total

Indiana State's 2011 volleyball team matched the win totals of a year ago with six games remaining on their 2011 schedule. The Sycamores finished the 2010 season at 11-20 and 3-5 in the Valley and into this weekend's action with an 11-13 mark overall and 3-10 record in the Valley. The 11 overall wins are the most for the Sycamores since the 2004 season when ISU won 12 games and posted eight conference victories. Indiana State has now won three games in the MVC in each of the last three seasons.

SCOUTING INDIANA STATE

The Sycamores (11-13, 3-10) broke a four-game losing streak as they split Missouri Valley Conference action on the home court last weekend. Indiana State lost to Southern Illinois on Friday (1-3) but came back with a dominating 3-1 win over Evansville on Saturday.

Junior outside hitter Morgan Dall continues to pace the Sycamore offense with an average of 4.47 kills per set (kps) and 3.76 kps in the Valley. Sophomore outside hitter Monique Morris is averaging 2.73 kps (3.06 kps in the Valley), senior middle blocker Stacy Qualizza 2.52 kps (2.47 kps in the Valley), and sophomore Molly Murphy 1.32 kps (2.19 kps in the Valley).

The Sycamore attack begins with a pair of setters including senior Shelbi Fouty at 7.51 assists per set (aps) for the season and 6.49 aps in the Valley while sophomore Loni Mackinson averages 3.61 aps overall and 4.36 aps in the Valley.

Senior libero Kiya James keys the defense with 4.55 digs per set (dps) overall and 4.17 dps in the Valley. Morris is second at 3.10 dps (3.43 dps in the Valley) with Fouty at 2.99 dps (3.33 dps in the Valley) and Mackinson 2.40 dps (3.00 dps in the Valley).

Qualizza has 51 blocks this season (0.61 per set) and 28 in Valley play (0.60 per set) while freshman Samantha Kersting has 35 blocks this season (0.56 per set) and 26 in Valley play (0.55 per set).

SCOUTING EVANSVILLE

The Purple Aces (13-14, 3-9) have won just two of their last 13 games but those wins do include a 3-0 sweep of Southern Illinois last Friday (25-16, 25-15, 25-15) and a 3-2 win at home over Wichita State on Oct. 14.

Senior outside hitter Brooke Maher leads the Purple Aces offense with 3.08 kps (2.87 kps Valley) while sophomore outside hitter Lauren Sellyer averages 2.39 kps (1.97 kps Valley), senior middle hitter Kaisi Nixon 2.27 kps (1.76 kps Valley), sophomore middle hitter Rachel TenHoor 2.16 kps (1.67 kps Valley), and freshman outside hitter Ashley Ring 2.09 kps (2.16 kps Valley).

A pair of players have been the top set up artists for Evansville including senior setter Ellen Sawin at 8.88 aps (6.09 aps Valley) and sophomore setter Jenn Murphy at 4.85 aps (5.68 aps Valley).

Sophomore defensive specialist Katie Klages leads the defense with 4.50 dps (4.17 dps Valley) while Maher averages 3.53 dps (3.34 dps Valley). TenHoor has 79 blocks this season (0.91 per set) and 39 blocks in the Valley (1.0 per set).

Sawin had 12 kills and junior outside hitter Jessica Knackmuhs nine in the first meeting against Indiana State while Murphy had 33 assists and 15 digs, and senior defensive specialist April Lubrecht 15 digs.

SERIES AGAINST EVANSVILLE - This is the 61st meeting between Indiana State and Evansville in a series which dates back to 1981. The Purple Aces hold a 32-28 edge in the series including 18-12 edge in games played at Evansville. Indiana State has won the last two meetings after dropping the previous 13 encounters.

SCOUTING SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

The Salukis (9-12, 3-9 MVC) have lost their last six games since defeating Indiana State on Oct. 7 including a 0-3 setback (16-25, 15-25, 15-25) loss at Evansville last Friday. 

Sophomore Jessica Whitehead leads the Southern Illinois offense with 3.41 kps (3.71 kps Valley) while junior outside hitter Laura Thole averages 3.20 kps (3.06 kps Valley) and junior middle blocker Alysia Mayes 271 kps (2.71 kps Valley). Junior setter Rachael Brown averages 9.99 aps (10.17 aps Valley).

Junior defensive specialist Bailey Yeager leads the defense with 3.86 dps (3.94 dps Valley) with Thole averaging 3.00 dps (3.00 dps Valley), and Brown 2.91 dps (2.88 dps Valley). Mayes has 69 blocks this season (0.81 per set) and 35 in the Valley (0.73 per set).

Whitehead led the Salukis in the first meeting against Indiana State with 21 kills while Mayes added 13 and Thole eight. Brown had 43 assists while sophomore outside hitter Elly Braaten had 15 digs with Yeager picking up 14.

SERIES AGAINST SOUTHERN ILLINOIS - This is the 56th meeting between Indiana State and Southern Illinois in a series which dates back to 1977. The Salukis hold a 40-15 edge in the series with the series and a 19-7 edge in games played in Carbondale, Ill. The two teams split games during the 2010 season with SIU winning 3-2 in Carbondale, Ill., and ISU winning 3-2 in Terre Haute, Ind. The Sycamores have dropped 12 of the last 13 to the Salukis.

FOLLOWING THE SYCAMORES:

Visit www.gosycamores.com for links to live stats for both games this weekend. Click on the Live Statistics link under the Broadcasts & Media tab on the left side of the homepage for the exact link, go to the volleyball schedule page for the link, or copy and paste the link below.

Live stats for the Indiana State vs. Evansville game can be found at:

http://www.sidearmstats.com/evansville/wvball/

Live stats for the Indiana State vs. Southern Illinois game can be found at:

http://stats.siu.edu/vbstats/

Sycamores In The National Rankings

Senior middle blocker Stacey Qualizza ranks 33rd nationally in hitting percentage (.365) which is second best in the Missouri Valley Conference. The senior has a career hitting percentage of .285 which is the third best all-time in ISU history. She finished the 2010 season with a .289 hitting percentage (sixth best single season in ISU history) and her current .365 percentage, if sustained, would set the school record for single season attack percentage.

Senior libero Kiya James currently ranks 92nd nationally in digs per set at 4.56 which ranks her fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference. James has 1,586 career digs (third best all-time) and a 3.79 career digs per set average (second best all-time).

Sophomore Monique Morris ranks 107th in aces per set at 0.35 which ties her for first in the Valley.

Senior Shelbi Fouty ranks 238th in assists per set at 7.51 which also ranks ninth in the Valley Fouty has 1,646 career assists (eighth best all-time) and has a 4.34 career assists per set average (11th best all-time).

The Sycamore team is ranked 64th nationally in digs per set (16.35), 108th in aces per set (1.31), 164th in hitting percentage (.195), 192nd in kills per set (12.18), 201st in assists per set (11.14), and 253rd in blocks per set (1.64).