Normal, Ill. – No. 5 seed Indiana State volleyball made history Thursday night in the opening round of the Missouri Valley Conference Championship with a 3-0 sweep (25-23, 30-28, 25-19) of No. 4 Drake inside Redbird Arena.
 
The Sycamores had not seen postseason action since 2014 and had never won a match in the tournament before tonight.
 
"It means so much because these kids have been through so much," first-year head coach Lindsay Allman said of her team. "They have endured so much adversity year after year and for them to come back and experience this is huge. I am just so happy for these seniors and how they fought."
 
The Sycamores were led by outside hitter Laura Gross who was named Second Team All-MVC earlier in the day. The Potomac, Illinois native had 11 kills for the Trees to go with 15 digs for her 21st double-double of the season.
 
Gross helped drive the Sycamores to a second-set win that ultimately turned the momentum for good as she finished with four kills as ISU downed the Bulldogs, 30-28 to take a 2-0 lead into the break.
 
Freshman Nikkie White also finished with 10 kills for the Sycamores. The outside hitter capped off an exciting set two with a kill to secure the win -- one of her five in the frame.
 
Drake jumped out to a 6-1 lead as the match began but ISU never faltered, fighting back to eventually tie the match at 14. Indiana State kept battling and eventually took a 21-20 lead late in the set and never looked back.
 
The Sycamores carried that momentum to the second set, jumping on top of Drake 13-10. DU would counter with four-straight points but a timeout and an ISU kill ended any thought of a win for the Bulldogs.
 
It was all Sycamores in the third and final set. ISU held the Bulldogs to a .091 attacking percentage and cruised to a 25-19 win to sweep Drake.
 
The Trees won the battle at the net in the set as Damadj Johnson had four of her five blocks in the first set. White recorded three of her four blocks in the set as well for the Sycamores. In total, the Sycamore frontline out blocked the Bulldogs, 10-7 in the match.
 
Three Sycamores recorded double-digit digs in Gross, Rachel Griffin and Stephanie Bindernagel. Griffin also added 36 assists for the Trees.
 
Senior Sarah Peterson finished with nine kills on 27 attempts while Cassie Kawa had six. Johnson and Griffin also added five kills apiece.
 
The Sycamores will take on top-seeded Missouri State Friday (Nov. 24) beginning at 6 p.m. ET in the semifinals inside Redbird Arena.
 
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.