NORMAL, Ill. – The Indiana State volleyball team picked up a five-set victory (25-21, 14-25, 25-21, 15-25, 15-12) over Illinois State Saturday night at Redbird Arena. The win snapped an eight-match win streak by Illinois State and marked the first time in 44 years that Indiana State has won on the road against ILS.
 
The Redbirds (15-12, 11-4 MVC) outhit Indiana State over the course of the match .229 to .177 but ILS was able to keep the advantage during sets in which the team won, outhitting ILS in the first, third and fifth sets.
 
The Sycamores (14-10, 6-8 MVC) were led at the net by Storm Suhre. Suhre finished the match with 13 kills on 27 swings (.444) while recording five total blocks. Madeline Williams (11) and Mallory Keller (10) also joined Suhre with double-digit kills while Williams also led the team with six blocks.
 
Melina Tedrow led ISU defensively with 21 digs while Chloe Mason tallied a double-double with 25 assists and 10 digs while also sending three aces over the net. Karinna Gall put together another well-rounded match with five kills, 11 digs, two assists and a block.
 
The Sycamores converted just 55.2 percent of their sideout opportunities and took advantage of 28 Redbird attacking errors in the match.
 
Tamara Otene led Illinois State with 26 kills and eight digs while three other Redbirds tallied 10 or more kills.
 
Indiana State came out on top in the opening set that featured 13 tied and three lead changes. Suhre tallied six of her 13 kills in the opening frame and ISU took control with three-straight points once the match was tied at 11-all. The Redbirds tied the set just one more time, but ISU was able to finish off the set, outhitting the home team .271 to .200 to secure the win.
 
The Redbirds jumped out to a 10-1 and never looked back. ISU was able to close the gap to four points at 11-7 but the Sycamores could not overcome the early deficit. Indiana State answered back though in a set three win when the Trees raced out to a 5-0 lead and eventually led 12-4. ILS did pull to within a point at 22-21 before Kaitlyn Hamilton and Jamie Brown sent back a Redbird attack to swing the momentum back the Sycamores' way.
 
Illinois State would send the match to a fifth and deciding set after claiming a 25-15 win in set four. ISU trailed by three points early before a timeout was called. Kylie Newby and Hamilton kicked off a Sycamore rally with a block assist for the first of three-straight points to tie the set at eight. ISU carried that run after an Illinois State timeout the squad put together a 5-3 run to take control before winning the match on a block from Hamilton and Williams.
 
The Sycamores won the battle at the net over Illinois State 11-8. Six different players recorded blocks led by Williams' six and Suhre's five.
 
The Sycamores will play their final two home matches next weekend as Drake and Northern Iowa come to town Friday and Saturday.
 
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.