Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- The Indiana State Sycamores earned a 3-1 (25-23, 25-19, 20-25, 25-21) victory over the visiting Bradley Braves in front of 199 fans inside the ISU Arena on Friday evening (Nov. 7).
The victory pushed the Sycamores record to 16-9, 8-5 MVC while Bradley fell to 1-23, 1-13 MVC. With the win, Indiana State is guaranteed to have a winning season for the first time since 1982.
Cassandra Willis led the Sycamore attack with 17 kills on 31 attempts to post a sparkling hitting percentage of .452. She added two service aces as well as one block solo and three block assists. Victoria Swigart added nine kills as did Bree Spangler. Erika Nord recorded 37 set assists while Spangler, Danielle Waedekin and Stephanie Bindernagel each had 13 digs. Shannon Murphy posted four service aces.
Kyla Thomas had six kills on seven attempts which equates to a .857 hitting percentage.
The Sycamores recorded 51 kills in the match and posted a .224 hitting percentage. As a team, the Sycamores had 11 service aces with two block solos and 12 block assists as each squad posted 12 total blocks in the contest.
Indiana State came out strong in set one with 14 kills against just four errors for a .323 percentage. Bradley would score each of the first three points before Willis earned her first kill to cut the Brave advantage down to 3-1. The Sycamores would score four points in a row to take a 4-3 lead on a Murphy service ace. Bradley's lead would grow to 16-12 before the Sycamores went on a 5-1 run capped by a Thomas kill to level the score at 17.
Bradley edged ahead 19-17 before the Sycamores took a 20-19 lead on a Nord service ace. Spangler's ace made it 22-20 and a Bradley attack errors gave ISU a 24-21 lead. The Braves would draw within 24-23 before Swigart polished off the set with a kill for the 25-23 set one victory.
In set two, the Braves once again took an early lead, but a service errors and service ace from Spangler leveled the score at two. After Bradley took a 3-2 lead, the Sycamores scored four in a row and surged ahead 7-3 on a Willis kill. The Sycamores would lead 15-12 before they scored seven points in a row to take a 22-12 edge on a Bradley attack error. The Braves scored seven of the next nine points to get within 24-19 but the set ended in a Sycamore victory on a Bradley error as ISU took a 25-19 win.
The Sycamores would strike first in set three on a Bradley service error, but a 4-0 run early put the Braves ahead 10-6. A kill from Bradley's Madison Kamp pushed the lead out to 16-10 before the Sycamores scored two points in a row to get within four points. Trailing 18-13, the Sycamores scored three in a row to draw within two points but that would be as close as ISU could get in falling 25-20 in set three.
The Sycamores took advantage of a pair of Bradley errors to begin set four for a 2-0 lead. Leading 2-1, Indiana State rattled off four points in a row, capped with a kill from Sarah Peterson for the early 6-1 advantage. Bradley would come back later in the set to tie the score at 13 before consecutive service aces from Murphy edged the Sycamores ahead 15-13. Once again Bradley battled back to level the score at 15, but a Willis kill and a bad Bradley set pushed Indiana State ahead 17-15. After a service erros, the Sycamores scored three in a row, capped by a Willis service ace and had the match victory in sight with a 20-16 lead.
A kill from Thomas put Indiana State ahead 21-18 and consecutive Bradley errors made it 23-18. Bradley got the score within 23-21, but a kill from Kynedi Nalls and a final kill from Sarah Peterson clinched the match with a 25-21 set four victory.
Indiana State is back in action on Saturday, November 8 when they host Loyola at 7:00 p.m. (ET) inside the ISU Arena.
