TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State volleyball ended a five-match skid Friday night with a 3-1 (28-26, 25-12, 25-27, 25-22) win over Loyola. ISU improved to 6-9 in the Missouri Valley Conference and holds the sixth and final MVC Tournament slot.
 
The Sycamores (8-19) took the first set, 28-26 behind a solid attack from Laura Gross who had eight of her match high 22 kills in the set. Senior Sarah Peterson added four kills for the Sycamores as ISU hit .178 and pulled away late for the set win.
 
The Sycamores put together their best offensive outing of the night in the second set, hitting .400 in the frame led by Rachel Griffin who hit 3-for-3 while Gross was 3-for-5 during the set as the Sycamores cruised to a 25-12 win to go up 2-0 at the break. ISU held the Ramblers to a -.038 attacking percent in the set.
 
Loyola (3-23, 2-11 MVC) bounced back in the third set to take a 27-25 win after hitting .234 in the frame. The Ramblers picked up six kills from Morgan Gresham and five from Elle Van Grinsven in the set.
 
The Sycamores answered the Loyola's set win with a 25-22 winner in the fourth frame to take the match. ISU trailed 5-1 before rallying to tie it at eight before rolling on to a 25-22 finish.
 
Indiana State held the Ramblers to just .154 hitting in the match while hitting .200 over four sets. The Sycamores turned in five service aces in the match led by senior Rachel Griffin who had three. Griffin, an Avon, Indiana native assisted on 45 of the teams' 59 kills. Sarah Peterson added 12 kills for the Trees while Stephanie Bindernagel led the defensive charge for ISU with 23 digs.
 
LUC was led by Gabi Maciagowski who finished with 17 kills. Gresham and Quin Spieker had 11 apiece for the Ramblers.

The Sycamores will close out the regular season Saturday against Valparaiso with first serve set for 7 p.m. inside the ISU Arena. Prior to the match, ISU will honor its four seniors in Stephanie Bindernagel, Rachel Griffin, Halle Lueck and Sarah Peterson.
 
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.