NORMAL, Ill. – Indiana State volleyball earned its second win in program history in the Missouri Valley Conference Volleyball Championship Thursday night as the Sycamores swept No. 3 seed Bradley (25-19, 25-21, 25-15) at Redbird Arena in Normal, Illinois.
 
ISU's balanced offensive attack was too much for the Braves as seven Sycamores recorded kills in the match while five players connected on seven or more kills. Both Kaitlyn Hamilton and Storm Suhre paced Indiana State with nine kills each while Mallory Keller added eight kills.
 
As a team, ISU was dominant on the attack, outhitting Bradley at a rate of .308 to .104. The ISU frontline of Hamilton, Keller, Gall and Newby were stellar on the defensive side of the net, recording nine total blocks while Bradley finished with just two blocks.
 
Newby found the hardwood four times on eight attacks from the middle, but she shined on defense as she was a part of six blocks. Melina Tedrow was able to collect a team-high 16 digs while the dynamic duo of Chloe Mason (19) and Emma Kaelin (20) assisted on 39 of ISU's 46 kills. For Kaelin, the 20 assist and 10 dig performance marked her 11th double-double of the season.
 
The first set was all Indiana State after a 5-5 tie early on. ISU reeled off an 11-6 run to take control at the midway point and never looked back. Seven ISU players recorded kills in the set led by Keller who had four kills.
 
The Sycamores put together its best hitting performance of the evening in set two with a .381 attacking percentage, connecting on 19 of 42 attacks. Both squads traded blows until ISU went on a 3-0 run to take a 12-9 lead. From that point on, Indiana State did not surrender the lead en route to the 25-21 set win.
 
Bradley jumped out to a 5-1 lead early in the third set before a timeout from ISU ended the scoring run and ignited an 11-0 Sycamore run that put the Trees in control until the end. The closest that BU would cut the lead to was six points at 15-9 but ISU was able to weather the Braves run en route to their sixth sweep of the season.
 
The Sycamores will take on host school and No. 2-seeded Illinois State Friday night in the semifinal match of the MVC Championship. First serve is set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN Plus from 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. Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from both the App Store and the Google Play Store.