Box Score PEORIA, Ill. – Damadj Johnson cemented her name into the Sycamore record book Saturday night at Bradley with 10 blocks, but it wasn't enough as Indiana State fell to the Braves, 3-1 (26-24, 25-19, 13-25, 25-18), at Renaissance Coliseum.
The freshman middle blocker out of East St. Louis, Illinois was all over the net Saturday as she was a thorn in the Braves attacking front, helping the Sycamores back into the match after the squad dropped the first two sets. It marked the second time this season that Johnson recorded more than nine blocks. She also recorded 11 kills on the night for her first double-double of the season.
Kynedi Nalls (14) and Cassie Kawa (10) also paced the Sycamores with double-digit kills, marking the second consecutive match the ISU has had three players' record 10+ kills. Rachel Griffin led the Sycamores with 26 assists while Halle Lueck went for 18 on the evening.
Shannon Murphy came into the match needing just six digs to become the 11th member of the 1,000 Dig Club. She would join the Club after picking up 15 on the night. The Chicago, Illinois native is the third member of the 2016 Sycamore squad to reach the 1,000-dig mark this season.
The Sycamores (9-13, 3-7 MVC) could not overcome early errors as they Braves took advantage of the miscues to take the first set easily after holding ISU hitters to .065 with seven errors.
Indiana State didn't see any improvement on the offensive side of the ball until the third set; the only set that the Sycamores would come away with after hitting .615 on their way to a 25-13 win.
That would be all the Sycamores would muster as they dropped the fourth set and the match as the Braves (7-15, 2-9 MVC) rallied to overcome an early deficit to pick up their second Missouri Valley Conference win of the season.
The Braves were led by a quartet of players with 10+ kills. Erica Haslag led all BU players with 14 kills while Rachel Jones went for 12.
The Sycamores were overwhelming at the net, recording 15 team blocks to the Braves' eight. Indiana State also recorded five service aces with one coming from five different players.
Indiana State returns to Terre Haute Friday as they play host to Illinois State beginning at 7 p.m. (ET).
