CHICAGO, ILL. - Youth served the Sycamore volleyball team well Tuesday night, leading Indiana State to their eighth win of the season in a 3-0 (25-19, 26-24, 25-16) sweep of the Chicago State Cougars in a midweek non-conference matchup in the Dickens Center.
Sophomore Monique Morris had a team high 14 kills in 29 attempts and a .414 attack percentage while fellow sophomore Loni Mackinson had a career high 30 assists to lead the Sycamores to their fourth straight non-conference victory. The win also stopped a two-game Indiana State losing streak.
Sophomore Molly Murphy tied her career high with seven kills while freshman Samantha Kersting had a career high seven kills and four blocks with sophomore Ashley Owens had a career high six kills.
Indiana State did not get off to the best of starts as they trailed 2-0 early and were still down 8-7 before the Sycamores asserted themselves after a Kersting kill tied the set at eight. Mackinson and Morris served on a pair of Indiana State runs that pushed the ISU into a 16-10 and the Sycamores held on for a 25-19 win.
The Cougars jumped out to a 9-3 lead early in the second set but the Sycamores fought back and tied the set at 10 on a Morris kill. Owen gave Indiana State their first lead of the set at 12-11 but Chicago State rallied and took a 17-12 lead. The Sycamores fought back and tied the set at 21 on a block by Stacy Qualizza.
A block by Qualizza and Owen gave ISU a 23-21 lead before the Cougars rallied with two straight points to tie the set again. The two teams traded points before a kill by Morris off a Mackinson set put ISU up 25-24 and the first career service ace from freshman Katie Moon gave ISU a 26-24 victory.
The third set went better for Indiana State right from the start as ISU scored the first point on a Kersting kill and the Sycamores never looked back. Indiana State increased their lead to 17-9 on another Morris kill but then the Cougars fought back to within four points at 19-15. The Sycamores regained control of the set and outscored Chicago State 6-1 the rest of the way to earn a 25-16 set win.
Indiana State improves to 8-5 overall and will look for their first Missouri Valley Conference win of the season this weekend as the Sycamores host Bradley on Friday and #14 Northern Iowa on Saturday. Chicago State falls to 1-14 with the loss.
