CHICAGO -- Indiana State volleyball used a balanced attack to rally back from an early deficit for a five-set (22-25, 25-18, 25-17, 16-25, 15-13) victory over Loyola Saturday night in Chicago. With the win, Indiana State surpassed its 2016 Missouri Valley Conference win total with nine matches remaining on the schedule. 

The Sycamores swept the weekend and improved to 7-14 overall and 5-4 in Missouri Valley Conference play. Loyola fell to 1-18 on the season and remained winless in MVC play at 0-8.
 
The match proved to be one of the most balanced matches of the season for Indiana State from an offensive standpoint. Four Sycamores had nine kills while senior Sarah Peterson had a team best 10 kills. The Sycamore defense was dominate at the net, tallying 12 blocks led by Cassie Kawa who nearly recorded a double-double with eight blocks and nine kills. Peterson added five blocks while Damadj Johnson had four blocks and nine kills.
 
ISU held the Ramblers to a .194 attacking percentage on the night on 34 attacking errors. The Ramblers struggled on the serve with 13 service errors.
 
After Loyola took the opening set 25-22, Indiana State answered back with back-to-back wins to lead 2-1. The Ramblers answered with a 25-16 win in the fourth set to force a fifth and final set. ISU trailed 1-0 in the fifth, but would score five of the next six points before LU bounced back to take a 9-8 lead. After tying the match at 11, ISU would go on a 4-2 run capped off by a kill from freshman Nikkie White to secure the victory, 15-13.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Five Sycamores had nine or more kills led by Peterson with 10. Johnson, Kawa, Johnson and White had nine.
• Rachel Griffin assisted on 39 of the teams kills while Stephanie Bindernagel had a team high 23 digs
• Kawa led the squad with eight blocks as ISU out blocked the Ramblers 12 to 6
• Loyola finished with 67 kills while ISU was held to just 49 

Next Up
Indiana State will wrap up a road swing Friday night when they travel to MVC foe Evansville. First serve is slated for 8 p.m. ET.  
 
For the latest information on the Sycamore Volleyball team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.