PEORIA, Ill. – On their Valentine's Day series-opener with Bradley, Indiana State fought back from a slow start but failed to halt strong offense from the Braves late, falling 3-1.
 
With the defeat, the Sycamores fall to 2-4 (2-3) on the season while the Braves improve to 2-3 (2-3).
 
Chloe Mason and Mary Hannah Lewis both managed to put together strong games for the Trees, as both ended their days with double-doubles. Lewis recorded a team-high 23 assists to go along with 13 digs while Mason tallied 19 assists and 21 digs.
 
Offensively the Blue & White struggled, recording 55 kills while hitting .129. Freshman Karinna Gall led the way with her best performance on the year, putting down 11 kills and a block assist. Madeline Williams ended as the only other Sycamore in double-digits for kills, recording 10 kills to go along with four block assists. Kaitlyn Hamilton and Mallory Keller both recorded nine kills on the day. Bradley finished the day with 64 kills, hitting .216.
 
Defensively, the Braves controlled the net with an 11-6 advantage in total blocks. Melina Tedrow served as the defensive anchor for the Sycamores, recording 28 digs for 7.0 digs per set on the match as well as eight assists. The libero is now just 67 digs away from entering the 1,000-dig club at Indiana State. ISU recorded 96 total digs.
 
It was a slow start to the match for the Sycamores, recording just six kills and hitting -.086 to fall 25-12 in set one. From set one to set two it was a different story, however. The Indiana State offense began to pick up, led by eight kills in the set from Williams, to help the Trees to a thrilling 29-27 set victory and tie the match.
 
The match continued in back-and-forth fashion throughout the third frame, with both teams once again crossing the 25-point threshold. Indiana State managed to reach set point four times, twice thanks to Gall, but couldn't keep the Braves from the 31-29 set victory. Bradley managed to ride the momentum from set three into the final set, holding on for the 25-15 set and match win.
 
Both teams return to the court in Peoria, Ill., tomorrow evening at 6 p.m. ET for game two of the season series. The game will be streamed live on ESPN3.
 
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.
 
 
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