MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Indiana State split a Saturday doubleheader at the Bluff City Showdown, defeating Lamar in three sets (25-20, 25-22, 25-21) and falling to tournament host Memphis in four sets (19-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-15) inside the Larry O. Finch Center.
 
The Sycamores finished in a three-way tie for first in the tournament with Lamar and Memphis, and won the tournament title by virtue of sets won head-to-head between the tied teams (Indiana State – four, Lamar – three, Memphis – three).
 
Emma Kaelin led the Sycamores with 30 kills across the two matches, including tying her career-high of 16 in the Sycamores' sweep of Lamar. Ella Scott added 20 kills between the pair of matches, while Hannah Baudin (14) and Jadyn Smith (13) both finished with double-digit kills for the day. Emilly Weber had 60 assists on the day, while Macy Lengacher registered double-digit digs in both matches and finished with 21 for the day.
 
Match One: Indiana State 3, Lamar 0
Lamar led early in the first set, but back-to-back aces from Emmy Sher kickstarted a run to put the Trees in command. Scott and Kaelin tacked on two kills apiece during the run, which saw the Sycamores go ahead 12-5. Lamar worked its way back into the set, later tying things up at 18-all, but Indiana State came up big in the closing stages. Two kills each from Kaelin and Scott, along with a block assist from Weber and Scott, put the Blue and White on the brink of a set win, and Smith closed out the opening frame with a kill to give the Sycamores a 25-20 victory in the first stanza.
 
Similar to the first set, Lamar took an early lead only for Indiana State to go on a lengthy scoring run and take control. Back-to-back kills from Scott, along with a pair of block assists from Scott and Baudin, put the Sycamores ahead 7-4, and a later three-point run featuring a service ace from Sher made it 10-6. Lamar battled back to take the lead midway through the set, but Scott served up consecutive aces to pull the Sycamores ahead 14-12 and the Trees never trailed from that point forward. Two late kills each from Weber, Kaelin and Baudin helped the Sycamores retain their lead, and a Lamar attack error sealed a 25-22 second set win for the Trees.
 
Lamar once again grabbed an early lead in the third set, but Kaelin went to work with three kills as part of a 7-1 run to put the Trees ahead for good. Kills from Baudin and Scott increased the Sycamores' advantage to 16-12, and Weber stuffed an attempt at the net to keep the Trees' lead at four. Back-to-back kills from Kaelin, along with late kills from Smith and Weber, gave the Sycamores a 23-16 lead, but Lamar battled back. The Cardinals won five straight points before Baudin and Kaelin closed out the match with kills to give the Sycamores a 25-21 win in the sweep-clinching set.
 
Match Two: Memphis 3, Indiana State 1
Indiana State carried the momentum from its earlier win into the first set of the weekend finale. Similar to the early match, the Sycamores trailed early before using small scoring runs to mount a comeback. Early kills from Baudin and Kaelin cut Memphis' lead to 6-5, and kills from Scott and Smith kept the Sycamores in striking distance. Indiana State took control of the set with a 7-1 run to go in front 19-15. Baudin and Kaelin recorded kills sandwiched around multiple Memphis errors during the run, and Lengacher capped the run with an ace. Two kills from Scott paired with a service ace from Kaelin made it 23-17 Trees, and Smith closed out the opening set with a kill to give the Sycamores a 25-19 win in the first frame.
 
Kills from Kaelin, Baudin and Anna Ptacin gave the Sycamores an early 4-2 lead in the second set, before a Memphis run gave the Tigers the lead. Kills from Kaelin and Weber, along with an ace from Scott, tied the set at 10-all, with Ptacin and Kaelin later adding kills to keep the score knotted. Indiana State and Memphis traded runs until the Tigers broke through with a 7-2 run to close out the set, evening the score with a 25-19 second set win.
 
Memphis opened the third set with the hot hand and took six of the first seven points, but the Sycamores worked their way back. Trailing by six at multiple points in the set, the Trees rattled of a six-point run on Scott's serve to even the score at 19-apiece. Scott had a pair of aces during the run, while the Sycamores took advantage of Memphis errors to get back into the set. Memphis held on, though, despite a late kill from Weber, and took the third set 25-22.
 
Early kills from Kaelin, Smith and Josilyn Wadas gave the Sycamores life to start set four, and Lengacher chipped in a sneaky bump kill from the libero spot as part of a 3-0 run to tie the set at six. Two kills from Scott, along with a Memphis error, gave the Sycamores a 9-8 lead, but the home side countered with a 12-2 run to take control of the set. Kills from Smith and Kaelin, along with aces from Lengacher and Cadence Gilley, gave the Trees a late spark, but Memphis protected home court by taking the fourth set 25-15.
 
News and Notes

• Indiana State hit a season-best .282 in its sweep of Lamar, notching 46 kills with just 15 errors in 110 attempts.
• Indiana State continued its trend of strong serving, with eight aces in both of Saturday's matches. The Sycamores averaged two or more aces per set in all three matches in Memphis.
• Emma Kaelin recorded back-to-back matches with 16 kills against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Friday) and Lamar (Saturday), her first two matches with 15-plus kills.
• Ella Scott recorded her best statistical lines of the season Saturday, with 11 kills against Memphis and nine kills on an .818 hitting percentage against Lamar.
• Indiana State's sweep of Lamar was its first three-set win of the season, and the third three-set win for the Sycamores in their last 11 matches, dating back to last season.
• Indiana State's 2-1 weekend marked its best non-conference weekend since the 2021 season, when the Sycamores went 2-0 in a tournament co-hosted by Belmont and Middle Tennessee and 3-0 in their own tournament, the Sycamore Open.

 
Up Next
Indiana State heads to IU-Indianapolis for a midweek match Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
 
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