TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Indiana State volleyball team continues Missouri Valley Conference action on Friday at ISU Arena when it hosts league leading Illinois State. Match time is slated for 7 p.m. Live video and stats are available through GoSycamores.com

QUICK HITS

Indiana State Sycamores

Head Coach: Traci Dahl-Skinner

Career Record: 67-131 (7th Season)

Record at ISU: Same

2014 Record: 10-5

2014 MVC Record: 2-2

2014 Stat Leaders

Kills - 202, Bree Spangler

Hitting Percentage - .395, Cassandra Willis

Digs - 199, Stephanie Bindernagel 

Assists - 573, Erika Nord

Points - 217.0, Bree Spangler

Blocks - 43, Cassandra Willis

Aces - 22, Stephanie Bindernagel

Illinois State Redbirds

Head Coach: Melissa Myers (7th Season)

Career Record: 273-139 (13th Season)

At Illinois State: 112-90

2014 Record: 10-5, 4-0 MVC

Last Time Out: W, 3-1 vs. SIU

W, 3-0 vs. Evansville

Series History

vs. Illinois State: the Redbirds lead, 50-8

Scouting the Redbirds

The co-league leading Redbirds remain one of two Valley opponents left undefeated in league play this season coming into Friday's match up. ISU travels to Terre Haute after hosting Southern Illinois (W, 3-1) and Evansville (W, 3-0) at home last weekend and are in the midst of a six-game win streak. Illinois State is led by freshman middle hitter Jaelyn Keene with a .328 hitting percentage (144-42-311) while junior outside hitter Ashley Rosch leads all hitters with 204 kills on the season (204-71-547, .232). Senior setter Kaitlyn Early has handled setting duties for the Redbirds, with 616 assists so far this season (10.44 per set). Senior libero Emily Orrick leads the back row defense with 299 digs including a league-leading 5.07 per set. As a team, the Redbirds hit a .225 just .002 behind Indiana State's league leading .227. But Illinois State leads in opponent hitting percentage, holding foes to a .149 in matches this season.

News and Notes

·         Indiana State completed a weekend sweep at home of Evansville and Southern Illinois last weekend to even its MVC record to 2-2 and post a 10-5 overall record.

·         Junior setter Erika Nord received MVC Offensive Player of the Week honors for her efforts against the Purple Aces and Salukis over the weekend. The Portage, Mich. native turned in a pair of double-doubles with a combined 112 assists and 21 digs to go along with three kills, four service aces and three blocks. She dished out a career-high 60 assists to go along with 18 digs for her team-leading eighth double-double vs. Southern Illinois. Against UE, Nord distributed 52 assists while helping ISU post a .346 hitting percentage.

·         The Saturday win over Southern Illinois is the Sycamores first win over the Salukis since 2011. ISU picked up the victory in five sets, led by 19 kills from Bree Spangler and a double-double from Erika Nord (60 assists, 18 digs).

·         Sophomore outside hitter Bree Spangler posted back-to-back career nights for the Sycamores over the weekend. Her 22 kills and .606 hitting percentage marked career highs against Evansville on Friday night.

·         Junior middle blocker Cassandra Willis ranks 35th in the nation in hitting percentage (.395) and is a top the Missouri Valley Conference in the same category after four games of league play.

·         As a team, the Sycamores are ranked in the top of a variety of MVC stats as they lead in hitting percentage (.227) and service aces (89, 1.51 per set), second in assists (720, 12.20 per set) and kills (772, 13.08 per set), third in opponent hitting percentage (.191) and fifth in digs (14.76 per set).

·         Individually, Willis (.395) and senior middle blocker Kyla Thomas (.377) rank first and third, respectively, in hitting percentage. Junior setter Erika Nord is fourth in assists (10.42 per set) while freshman libero Stephanie Bindernagel leads in service aces (22, 0.37 per set) and 10th in digs (3.37 per set). Sophomore outside hitter Bree Spangler ranks fifth (3.42 per set) in kills and seventh in total points (3.68 per set). Sophomore defensive specialist Shannon Murphy is also fourth in service aces (19, 0.32 per set).

·         Nord and Spangler have combined for 15 double-doubles this season. Nord leads the team with eight while Spangler has turned in seven. Both turned in double-doubles last weekend with Nord's against SIU and Spangler's against Evansville.

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.