By Tim McCaughan
GoSycamores.com

NORMAL, Ill. – Indiana State volleyball dropped its opener of a four-match road swing to Missouri Valley Conference leading Illinois State, 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-17), Friday night in Normal.

The Sycamores (7-8, 1-2 MVC) were led by senior Kynedi Nalls on the offensive side of the ball as the Fort Worth, Texas native was the only INS player to record double-digit kills on the night. Rachel Griffin assisted on 21 of the teams' 36 kills while Shannon Murphy picked up a team-high 17 digs.  

Indiana State went toe-to-toe with Illinois State (11-5, 4-0 MVC) to start the night as neither team led by more than two points until the midway point of the opening set. ILS got the offense going though following the media timeout, reeling off four straight points to take an 18-14 lead over Indiana State. 

The Redbirds continued their barrage of attacks, crossing the .300 mark in attacking percentage for a majority of the set led by Jaelyn Keene and Aly Dawson who each finished the first set with seven kills apiece. 

INS did not falter though after the Redbirds took a commanding 23-18 lead. The Sycamores defense pushed Illinois State and eventually made the climb back within one point at 24-23, but Keene would close out the set with a kill. 

The Redbirds wasted no time in the second set, bouncing out to a l5-6 lead before Indiana State battled back to within three points at 23-20. The large deficit was too much for the Sycamores to overcome after the slow start. As a team, Indiana State was held to just .083 in the set while ILS went for a .270 hitting percentage. 

It was all Illinois State in the third and final set as the home squad closed out the match with a 25-17 win to secure the top spot in the MVC after improving to 4-0 on the season. 

Keene led the Redbirds with a match-high 16 kills. Dawson joined Keene in the 10+ kill category as she delivered 13 of her own. 

The Sycamores return to action Monday night in Cedar Falls as they face off with Northern Iowa at 8 p.m. (ET) on The Valley on ESPN3.​