Ace Hunt

GoSycamores.com

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State dropped a 3-2 decision to visiting Western Michigan on the final day of the ISU Classic here at the ISU Arena on Saturday afternoon in front of 189 fans. The Sycamores won the first two sets 25-20 and 25-23 before falling 25-18 and 25-17 to force a fifth set. In the fifth, Western Michigan won 15-13.

The Sycamores fell to 6-6 on the season while the Broncos improved to 5-8. ISU opened the home portion of its schedule with a 3-1 victory on Friday evening against Bradley to go to 1-0 in MVC play for just the third time in program history.

Kynedi Nalls set a new career high with 20 kills and hit a blazing .462 for the game. Bree Spangler added 11 kills while Sarah Peterson posted 10. Rachel Griffin had 53 assists while Cassie Kawa ignited a big run in the second set powered mostly by a career-best five service aces. For the second consecutive contest, Spangler posted 20 digs and notched her sixth double-double off the season.

ISU had four total blocks while Western Michigan tallied nine. The Broncos had a .265 team attack percentage while the Sycamores owned a .218 mark. The Sycamores' high water mark came in the fifth set with a tally of .350 but the Broncos owned a .632 percentage in that same set.

In the first set, the Sycamores raced out to a 3-0 lead and were ahead for most of the first half of the set. The Broncos led briefly at 19-18 before the Sycamores came back with a kill by Melody Burdette and then a Kawa service ace for the 20-19 lead. Another Kawa service aces got the Sycamores at set point and Damadj Johnson finished it off with a kill for the 25-20 victory.

Western Michigan scored the first three points of the second set and led 5-1 Before the Sycamores rallied and eventually used a 3-0 run to tie the set at 10 on a kill by Nalls. WMU came right back with a big run, but the Sycamores countered with five in a row themselves to knot the set at 16. Trailing 20-17, Burdette posted a kill and then Kawa had consecutive service aces to tie it up at 20. The run continued for two more points until Kawa had a service error but the Sycamores owned a 22-21 lead. A kill from Spangler tied it up at 23 before kills from Johnson and Nalls gave the Sycamores a 25-23 win.

WMU took control of the third set early by scoring the first four points and seven of the first eight. They lead by seven to nine points for most of the set. Spangler tried to keep the Sycamores alive with a kill late but Mikaela Ryshytylo killed it off for the 25-18 winner and got the Broncos within a set at 2-1. In the fourth set, a kill from Peterson late got the Sycamores within seven points, but Nicole Kinser had the kill on set point for the 25-17 victory and tied the match at 2.

Spangler's early kill knotted the deciding fifth set at one before WMU took a 3-1 lead. Kills from Burdette and Johnson knotted the match at 3. WMU took a 7-05 lead before Spangler scored three times in a row for the 8-7 advantage. A kill from Nalls and then Kawa as well as a Halle Lueck service ace got the Sycamores within 14-13 and forced a Western Michigan timeout. But Sydney LeMay had the winning kill for the 15-13 victory and pushed WMU ahead 3-2 for the match.

LeMay led the way with 23 kills in the match.

Indiana State returns to action on Saturday, September 24 when they host MVC foe Loyola at 7 p.m. (ET) inside ISU Arena.