TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State volleyball opens Missouri Valley Conference play Friday and Saturday when it plays host to Bradley and Illinois State inside ISU Arena.
The Sycamores will face Bradley Friday at 6 p.m., with first serve against Illinois State set for 5 p.m. Saturday.
Gameday Promotions
Friday's match will feature a phone wallet giveaway for the first 50 fans. Saturday's match will serve as the Sycamore Kids Club match.
Last Time Out
Indiana State split its final two matches of non-conference play, taking down Campbell in five sets before falling to No. 14 Kentucky in three sets.
Mallory Keller led the way for the Sycamore attack with 25 kills across the two matches (16 vs. Campbell, nine vs. Kentucky), while
Kaitlyn Hamilton tallied a career-high 17 kills in the come-from-behind win over Campbell.
Home, Sweet Home
After playing its first eight matches of the season on the road or at neutral sites, Indiana State opens Missouri Valley Conference play at ISU Arena against Bradley and Illinois State.
This season marked the first without a non-conference home match since 2005, excluding the spring 2021 season, and the longest stretch without a home match (eight matches) since 2019, when the Sycamores opened the season with nine consecutive matches away from ISU Arena. It also marks the first time the Sycamores will face the defending conference tournament champion in the opening weekend of conference play since 2018.
First One Down
Indiana State had to work for its first win of the season, but the Sycamores showed resiliency in a five-set win over defending Big South Conference champion Campbell. The Sycamores were down 2-1 in the match and 22-19 in the fourth set before staging a late rally in the fourth and taking care of business in the fifth.
Campbell's .155 hitting percentage in the match against Indiana State was the lowest anyone has hit against the Sycamores this season, while Indiana State set season highs in kills (54), assists (49) and digs (77).
In addition to it being the first win of the season for Indiana State, it was also the first win for new Sycamore head coach
Ashlee Pritchard.
Record Chasing
After opting to return to the program for a fifth season, Indiana State libero
Melina Tedrow has a chance of making school history this season, as she currently ranks second all-time with 1,824 digs. Tedrow enters the weekend just 17 digs away from the school record, which is held by Kristy Cox. She currently ranks seventh among active Division I players in digs and leads all active Missouri Valley Conference players in the statistic.
Tedrow leads the Sycamores with 109 digs this season, including double-digit digs in six straight matches. She had a season-best 20 digs in a three-set match against North Dakota.
Leading the Charge
Kaitlyn Hamilton (66),
Mallory Keller (57) and
Karinna Gall (49) currently pace the Sycamores when it comes to kills, and all three rank among the top 40 in the Missouri Valley Conference in kills per set.
Hamilton has recorded double-digit kills in four of the last five matches, including a career-high 17 in Indiana State's five-set win over Campbell. Keller had 16 kills in the win over Campbell and followed that with nine kills against No. 14 Kentucky. Gall has tallied six or more kills in five of the first eight matches this season, including a season-high 12 against North Dakota.
Keller surpassed 500 kills for her Sycamore career earlier this season against Western Michigan, while Hamilton (484 career kills) and Gall (445) are both on pace to reach the 500-kill mark at some point during the 2022 season.
Up Next
Indiana State hits the road for the first time during Missouri Valley Conference play Sept. 30 - Oct. 1
The Sycamores will play a pair of MVC newcomers in their next two matches, squaring off against Murray State (Sept. 30, 7 p.m.) and Belmont (Oct. 1, 6 p.m.).
