TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State Volleyball put on a performance as it recorded its fourth-straight Missouri Valley Conference victory, topping Northern Iowa, 3-1, (25-23, 25-12, 21-25, 25-23) in ISU Arena on Saturday evening. ISU improves to 14-7 overall and 6-3 in the MVC.
Sophomore outside hitter Bree Spangler led the team with 21 kills and five digs on a .256 hitting percentage. Freshman outside hitter Sarah Peterson tacked on 16 kills, while junior middle blocker Cassandra Willis added 10 while hitting .529 (10-1-17).
Indiana State combined for a .286 hitting effort on the night, while out-digging the Panthers, 49-41. Willis led with four block assists, as the team combined for seven total in the win.
Sophomore defensive specialist Shannon Murphy came off the bench to lead the Sycamores with 13 total digs while freshman libero Danielle Waedekin contributed 12.
ISU rallied in set one for the 25-23 victory. Tied at 13-13, ISU fell behind before Peterson and a UNI kill knotted it back up at 17 all. The Sycamores took a three point lead off a freshman defensive specialist Stephanie Bindernagel service ace. Bindernagel led Indiana State with three aces, as ISU tallied nine total in the win.
The Panthers would get within one but kills by Spangler and Peterson sealed the victory.
It was all Indiana State in set two, as it rolled to a 25-12 victory on a .481 hitting percentage. Spangler added six kills alone in the set as ISU also held UNI to a .081 in the frame.
Following the break, Indiana State couldn't keep up with UNI's .400 hitting effort as it fell, 21-25. The Sycamores kept it close as a kill by Spangler knotted things up late in the set, 20-20. But three straight kills from the Panthers helped close the frame for its lone set victory of the night.
In set four, the two teams battled back and forth with seven ties and three lead changes. The Panthers cut the lead ISU lead to one, 21-20, after a Spangler attack error. UNI tied things up again at 22 but a kills by senior middle blocker Kyla Thomas put the match away.
Thomas added five kills on the night while sophomore middle blocker Kynedi Nalls added six for Indiana State who tallied 61 slams on the evening. Junior setter Erika Nord dished out 51 assists and added seven digs along with a block.
Indiana State hits the road for matches at Southern Illinois and Evansville on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
For the latest information on the Sycamore Women's Volleyball team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
