TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State struggled to get in an offensive rhythm Saturday evening, as the Sycamores were defeated by visiting Illinois State in three sets (25-13, 25-15, 25-19) inside ISU Arena.
 
Lily Mueller and Curry Kendall led the Sycamores with six kills each, with Mueller also hitting a match-high .500 on her 10 attempts. Emily Weber had 21 assists to go along with eight digs and four kills, while Macy Lengacher tallied a team-high 13 digs.
 
Weber opened the match with a kill, and Scott added one moments later to knot the score at 3-3. Illinois State went on a 7-1 run to go in front, but kills from Mueller and Kendall got the Sycamores closer. The Redbirds followed with another lengthy run, though, extending their lead out to 19-8 I the process. Holland, Weber and Mueller added late kills for the Trees, but Illinois State took the opening set 25-13.
 
Holland and Mueller put down early kills for the Sycamores, but the visitors jumped out to another early lead by taking 10 of the first 13 points. Kills from Mueller and Kendall, along with an Illinois State error, pulled the Sycamores within five at 11-6, but Illinois State quickly went on a 5-1 run to extend its lead out further. Jadyn Smith, Ella Scott and Kendall added kills to get the Trees back within five at 18-13, but that was the closest the Sycamores got late in the set. Despite another late kill from Kendall, Illinois State won the second set 25-15 to take a 2-0 lead.
 
Indiana State got off to a better start in set three, taking advantage of early Redbird errors to keep pace. Kills from Holland, Mueller and Kendall kept the teams within a point of each other early on, and back-to-back kills from Kaelin and Weber tied the set at 10-all. Indiana State took the lead courtesy of kills form Holland and Weber, along with errors from Illinois State, but the Redbirds battled back to tie things up at 15-15. The back half of the set was full of runs, with Illinois State's five-point swing to go aheads 20-16 being a hurdle that the Sycamores couldn't overcome. Three straight points for Indiana State, featuring a kill from Scott and a block assist from Scott and Kendall, got the Sycamores within one at 20-19, but those were the last points for Indiana State in the set. Illinois State closed out the match by taking the last five points to win the third set 25-19.
 
News and Notes

• Lily Mueller's six kills matched her season high, while her .500 hitting percentage in Saturday's match (6-1-10) was her best of the season.
• Indiana State recorded 50 digs Saturday, marking the sixth time in eight home matches this season that the Sycamores had 50 or more digs at home.
• 21 of Indiana State's 26 kills (80.7 percent) in Saturday's match came from freshmen and sophomores.

 
Up Next
Indiana State begins its final home weekend of the season Friday at 6 p.m. against Belmont inside Hulman Center.
 
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