EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Sycamore volleyball will travel to southern Indiana and attempt to earn the season sweep over in-state rival, Evansville, on Friday evening.
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Quick Facts
- Indiana State continues the 2019 conference season on Monday when they to the Carson Center in Evansville for a 7 p.m. matchup with the Purple Aces.
- The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
- Indiana State has a combined all-time record of 46-30-0 against the Aces.
- Melina Tedrow is ranked second in the Valley and 14th nationally in digs-per-set with an average of 5.35.
- Tedrow's 44-dig performance against Evansville is the third-best in the NCAA so far this season.
- Nikkie White has recorded more than 10 kills in seven of the last nine matches.
- Freshman Chloe Mason is eighth in the Valley in assists-per-set, tallying 460 through 82 sets for an average of 5.61.
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SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
The Purple Aces enter Friday's match owning a 14-10 record overall and are 5-8 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Evansville is currently on a five game losing streak, most recently falling to Bradley in five sets.
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ON THE ATTACK
Nikkie White has been outstanding on offense during the conference season. The outside hitter has recorded double-digit kills in seven of the last nine matches, including 10 kills at Valparaiso and a double-double at Loyola with 16 kills and 12 digs.
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DEFENSIVE TREES
The Sycamores are one of the better defensive teams in the nation through 23 games as they average 18.06 digs- per-set, which is eighth in the NCAA and second in the Valley.
Melina Tedrow plays a key role in the defensive effort with 5.35 digs-per-set, putting her at 14th nationally and second in the MVC.
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DIGGIN' IT
Sophomore libero
Melina Tedrow continues to lead the defensive effort for the blue and white. She tallied 22 digs against Illinois State on Monday evening, and she currently has 12 matches over 20 digs. Currently, Tedrow is second in the Valey and 14th nationally in digs-per-set at 5.35.
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ASSISTING THE OFFENSE
Freshman setter
Chloe Mason leads Indiana State in total assists on the season, tallying 460 through 23 matches (82 sets) for an average of 5.61 assists-per-set, which is eighth in the conference.
Mary Hannah Lewis helps split the work load with Mason, as she has tallied 334 assists on the year for 4.45 assists-per-set. Lewis was the starter against UNI and Drake at home and earned 13 assists against the Panthers and a career-high 31 versus the Bulldogs.
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A WELCOME WIN
Indiana State's home win over the Drake Bulldogs gave head coach
Lindsay Allman her first regular season victory over Drake since arriving in 2017 (defeated Drake in the MVC tournament in 2017) and ISU's first regular season win over the Bulldogs since Oct. 17, 2014. The Sycamores put together a complete game, recording a better hitting percentage (.220), more kills (61), assists (61), digs (86) and team blocks (7) than the Bulldogs.
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WHITE'S CAREER DAY
Junior
Nikkie White had a career-day against Drake. The outside hitter recorded career-high 20 kills against the Bulldogs to lead the Sycamores. In addition to her 20 kills, White added five digs and a service ace. On the weekend, White finished with a total of 28 kills, six digs, two service aces and a block assist.
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SKID NO MORE
Indiana State ended its six-game road skid on Saturday when the Sycamores defeated Southern Illinois on Saturday, 3-2. In addition to picking up their first road win, ISU claimed its first five-set victory of the year and won in Carbondale for just the third time in the last 15 attempts. The Sycamores recorded 63 digs on .243 hitting, 60 assists, 92 digs and 11 total blocks.
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DOUBLE TROUBLE
The freshman duo of
Chloe Mason and
Taylor Shelton had a stellar weekend of competition on the road, as both recorded double-doubles in consecutive games. Mason tallied 23 assists and 16 digs against Missouri State and followed that performance up with a 32 assist, 20 dig match at SIU. Shelton earned 11 kills and 15 digs against the Bears and 11 kills to 14 digs at Southern Illinois.
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RECORD-BREAKER
Melina Tedrow's performance against Evansville will go down as the best single-game match for total digs by an individual as the sophomore earned a school record, 44. Not only is he career-high the new school record, she is also tied for the fourth-most digs in the Valley record books and currently her total is the second-most in the NCAA this season.
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ON THE BOARD
The Sycamores picked up their first Missouri Valley Conference win of the season on Oct. 11, taking down in-state rival Evansville, 3-1. The victory ended a five-game losing skid for the blue and white and also gave the Sycamores their 10th-consecutive home victory over the Purple Aces.
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OFFENSIVE AWAKENING
Indiana State had their best offensive performance of the 2019 season on Oct. 11 against Evansville. In four set, the Trees tallied 62 kills, second only to the 64 kill performance against Wright State which took place in a five set match. Five Sycamores, including
Gretchen Kuckkan,
Cassie Kawa,
Kylie Newby,
Taylor Shelton and
Nikkie White, recorded double-digit digs while
Madeline Williams added nine of her own.
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SEEING DOUBLE
Freshman setter
Chloe Mason had an impressive opening weekend of Valley play. In her first two conference matches of her career she posted two double-doubles at 27 assists and 15 digs and 23 assists and 13 digs, respectively. Mason followed that with a career-high 35 assists against Bradley with 12 digs. She sits at nine double-double on the season and in her career.
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HEATING UP
After starting the season 0-8, Indiana State went on a two-game winning streak of which they allowed no set wins by their opposition. The Sycamores defeated Western Illinois, 3-0, in the last game of the Wright State Invitational and then held off a third-set comeback by IUPUI to defeat the Jaguars the following Tuesday.
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KEEPING IT FRESH
Strong freshman play continued to help the Sycamores as the season progressed. Against IUPUI, setter
Chloe Mason recorded a double-double with 13 assists and 11 digs, while fellow freshmen
Gretchen Kuckkan and
Taylor Shelton recorded double-digit digs of 14 and 13, respectively.
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ALL TOURNEY
Redshirt senior
Cassie Kawa was named to an All-Tournament team, twice in the non-conference season, the latest at the Spartan Invitational. Facing some tough competition, Kawa managed to end the weekend with 17 digs and 6 blocks. The redshirt senior was also one of the top hitters for ISU against Michigan State and RV Cincinnati, hitting .364 and .400, respectively against the Spartans and Bearcats.
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FRESH IMPACT
The freshman duo of
Gretchen Kuckkan and
Chloe Mason played key roles for the Trees at the Wright State Invite, with both recording double-doubles during the weekend. Kuckkan finished with two double-doubles, including a 13 kill-24 dig performance against Wright State while Mason earned her fifth career double-double in a win against Western Illinois with 20 assists and 13 digs.
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WELCOME TO D-I
Freshman hitter
Gretchen Kuckkan stepped-up to the challenge of Division I competition, recording two double-doubles in her first collegiate tournament. Against Northeastern she tallied 11 kills and 16 digs and followed it up on Sunday against Green Bay with 11 kills and 15 digs. The freshman tallied double-digit digs in all three matches for the blue and white, ending the weekend with the second-most digs on the team at 42 and she ended with the most kills for ISU on the weekend at 42.
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TRAVEL TEAM
The Trees spent the first three weekends of the season on the road at the Green Bay Invitational, Spartan Invitational and Wright State Invitational before finally returning home on Sept. 17 to faceoff with IUPUI.
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OH, CANADA!
Indiana State's roster features an international flair with three Canadians on the rolls.
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Rhiannon Morozoff     Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Alex Toombs  Saksatoon, Saskatchewan
Cassie Kawa    Lethbridge, Alberta
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THE VALLEY ON ESPN
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For the latest information on the Sycamore Volleyball team, make sure to check outÂ
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