CARBONDALE, Ill. – Indiana State volleyball wrapped up its regular season with a 3-1 (28-26, 25-20, 23-25, 25-17) road victory over Southern Illinois Saturday night inside Davies Gym. The win helped the Sycamores improve to 17-11 while finishing with a .500 or better record in Missouri Valley Conference action for just the third time in program history after finishing 9-9 in conference action.
 
Indiana State clinched the No. 6 seed at the 2021 MVC Volleyball Championship with the win and will faceoff with No. 3 Bradley Thursday, Nov. 25, at 7 p.m. ET in Normal, Ill. All matches throughout the tournament can be seen on ESPN Plus. For more information visit the Championship Central page HERE.
 
The Indiana State defense was solid throughout, holding the Salukis (5-26, 0-18 MVC) to a .077 hitting percentage while making 13 blocks at the net to limit the SIU attack. Kaitlyn Hamilton, Kylie Newby and Mallory Keller each tallied three blocks apiece to lead the Sycamores.
 
On the flip side ISU was able to hit .141 led by Keller and Newby who each tallied 11 kills apiece for the Sycamores. Newby was dominant from the middle with 11 kills coming on just 21 attacks for a .429 hitting percentage.
 
Hamilton finished with nine kills while Karinna Gall added six kills and 13 digs for the Trees. Melina Tedrow finished with a match high 24 digs while Chloe Mason tallied a double-double with 24 assists and 15 digs in the win.
 
Madeline Williams led ISU with four service aces as ISU finished with 11 aces overall. Mason had three and Eck tallied two while also assisting on 16 Sycamore kills.
 
It was a back-and-forth in the first as the set saw 15 ties and eight lead changes. ISU trailed 24-23 before Gall was able to find hardwood for her third kills of the set. Newby picked up a kill two points later to tie the match once again at 26 just before Storm Suhre gave ISU the lead at 27-26. The Salukis surrendered the set after an attack error to put ISU on top 1-0.
 
The second set saw the same back-and-forth style until the midway point of action. Tied at 14-all, Indiana State reeled off a 5-0 run to take a commanding lead behind two Hamilton kills, a Williams service ace and a pair of SIU errors as ISU went on to win the set 25-20 and take a 2-0 lead.
 
The Salukis answered in the third set, leading early on before ISU was able to fight back to tie the match at 14. The Salukis went on to take the set after going on an 11-5 run to close out the frame.
 
The Sycamores put on their best defensive performance of the night in the fourth and final set, holding Southern Illinois to a -.047 hitting percentage. ISU led from the beginning and never looked back en route to the set win.
 
Nataly Garcia led a trio of Salukis with double figure kills with 12 on the match.
 
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. Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from both the App Store and the Google Play Store.