EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Indiana State volleyball fell at Evansville on Saturday evening 3-1 (17-25, 16-25, 25-11, 20-25), falling back to an even 8-8 on the season and 2-2 in Missouri Valley play.
 
Kira Holland led the Sycamores with 16 kills, adding in nine digs and a pair of blocks. Hadley Hardersen finished with a double-double of 11 kills and 16 digs. Emily Weber recorded 29 assists, while Chloe Gilley led the defensive effort with 24 digs. Ella Scott joined Holland with two block assists.
 
Set 1 | Evansville 25, Indiana State 17
Evansville jumped out to an early 7-2 lead and never looked back. Later in the set, Indiana State closed the gap to three points with a pair of three-point runs, highlighted by kills from Kimora Whetstone and Hardersen, but Evansville closed the set on a 7-2 run to take the opening set.
 
Set 2 | Evansville 25, Indiana State 16
It was more of the same in the second same, but it took some time to get there. The Trees and Aces were tied three different times until eventually the game was at 10 apiece. Evansville took control of the set on a 12-3 run with seven kills in the stretch to lead 22-13. Indiana State scored only one point of their own, a kill by Holland, while the other two points came from service errors by UE. The Aces took the set 25-16.
 
Set 3 | Indiana State 25, Evansville 11
The third set seemed like a whole different match. The Sycamores took control from the start via a Hardersen service ace and never trailed in the set. The Trees jumped out to 10-4 lead, then to a 16-5 lead midway through the set; the run ended at 12-3 as Weber recorded a service run of 10 straight while Scott, Holland, and Hardersen all tallied at least a skill in the streak. Weber executed a setter dump to record the 24th point, then an attack error by UE gave Indiana State the set victory.
 
Evansville hit -.135 in the set as Indiana State forced 10 attack errors and notched six blocks.
 
Set 4 | Evansville 25, Indiana State
Indiana State looked to force a fifth set early on, holding a 7-3 lead after Holland scored four straight points for the Trees via kills. Evansville stiffened up and swing the momentum in their favor off a 13-6 scoring stretch, taking a 17-14 lead towards the end of the set. The set ended fairly evenly – both teams finishing rallies with kills but seemingly going hand-in-hand in both service and attack errors. A pair of kills couldn't turn the tide for the Sycamores, and Evansville hung onto the five-point lead to win the set 25-20 and cap the evening with a 3-1 match victory.
 
The fourth set was the Sycamores' best set in terms of hitting percentage, but Evansville topped the Trees in the set with their best set of the evening, swinging at a .405 clip.
 
News & Notes

• The Sycamores finished with 79 total digs, the second-best effort of the season behind only the 91-dig match against Chattanooga on September 19. Both that match and the third-best match (71 digs on August 29) were five-setters.
• Junior middle blocker Ella Scott surpassed 500 career kills. She also recorded a career-best eight digs.
• Sophomore Chloe Gilley recorded a career-high 24 digs, breaking her previous best of 21.
• Freshman Hadley Hardersen notched back-to-back double-doubles with 11 kills and 16 digs this evening. It marks her third-straight double-digit kill match and her sixth double-digit dig match.
• Freshman Corinne Knapp made her collegiate debut in the fourth set.
• Indiana State recorded 42 kills in a four-set match, the fewest number of kills since tallying 34 in the win over Merrimack (which was a three-set match) on September 6. It is the lowest this season in four-set matches.
• The Sycamores committed 25 attack errors for the second-straight night. Indiana State also recorded 25 one day ago at Southern Illinois in a four-setter. Twenty five attack errors ties for the second most this season (27 twice, both on September 5 against SIUE and NIU.
• Indiana State scored 49 total points (third lowest of the season, no matter the number of sets played).

 
Up Next
Indiana State will travel to Murray State on Friday, October 10 and Belmont on Saturday, October 11. Murray State's match will begin at 7 p.m. ET, and at Belmont the match time is set for 6 p.m. ET.

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