Lexington, Ky. – Indiana State split a pair of matches at the Bellarmine Classic to kick off the 2025 season, as the Sycamores opened with a loss to host Bellarmine in three sets (20-25, 25-27, 23-35) before bouncing back with a win over SIUE in five (25-17, 27-25, 22-25, 25-27, 15-11). Indiana State closes out the tournament on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. ET.

Match One: Bellarmine 3, Indiana State 0
Kira Holland paced the Sycamores with nine kills, adding in eight digs. Freshman Ava Robart finished second in kills with eight and added in four aces and a block. Emily Weber recorded 20 assists, while Ella Scott and Curry Kendall each chipped in four kills. Emmy Sher led with 12 digs, and Avery Hales led the blocks with four. Holland and Scott each had three.
 
Big blocks by Ava Robart and Kira Holland in a back-and-forth opening set. Momentum swung with the Trees after kills by Kira Holland and Curry Kendall to put the trees on a 5-0 run. Scrappy defensive plays by both teams led to extended rallies on both sides. Service errors aplenty on both sides was the     stayed back and forth with no team holding larger than a five-point lead. After a 19-19 knot, the Knights closed the set outscoring Indiana State 6-1. The difference maker for the Sycamores through set 1 was the six blocks by Kira Holland (2) and Ella Scott (2) in just the first set.

The second set started off strong again for the Sycamores with a big opening block by Ella Scott which led to a 3-0 run for the Trees. Despite the Knights' attempts to catch the Trees' defense off guard, the Trees held strong recording 13 digs with Kira Holland (4) leading the team in the second set. Despite the Sycamores' scrappy defensive play, they could not find a solution to the Knights middles. The momentum finally swung in the way of the Trees that began with a big ace by Ella Scott and scrappy defense to put ISU back on top. Freshman Hadley Hardersen subbed in and served up back-to-back aces to give Indiana State a two-point 19-17 lead forcing a Knight timeout. Bellarmine flipped the lead to go up 23-21, but after a service error and a kill by Weber the Knights were forced to call a timeout. Ava Robart gave Indiana State a 25-24 lead, but it was the Knights that won three straight point to take the set.

The third set was much of the same as the first with a very back-and-forth start for both teams. With several timely kills by Kira Holland (4) and Emily Weber (1), the Sycamores fought back into the match. Two big kills by Ava Robart (5) in a row continues to give the Sycamores new life. This life continued with 2 big blocks by Lily Mueller and aided also in part by 3 aces by Ava Robart that put the Sycamores up by 6 and allowed them to go on a 7-0 run. The Knights battled back, coming back all the way to tie the score at 18-18. The score remained within a point until the Knights scored on a kill and the Sycamores recorded an attack error to give Bellarmine the match victory.
 
 
Match 2: Indiana State 3, SIUE 2
The Sycamores returned to action to face SIUE, opening the game on a 4-1 run and they continued to string service runs together. The Trees jumped to an early 13-6 lead from kills by Kira Holland, Kimora Whetstone, and Lily Mueller. SIUE closed the gap to five points, but the Trees scored four straight to take an 18-10 lead, and the lead was never closer than five points to end the set.

Set two began in favor of SIUE, as the Cougars held the lead until Indiana State tied the set at 12 apiece. Three-straight kills from Holland, Scott, and Hardersen pushed the Sycamores ahead 13-12. The Cougars and the Trees continued to trade points before Hardersen and Whetstone recorded consecutive blocks leading to a Sycamores five-point run. However, the Cougars were not quite ready to concede the set and battled back before a kill by Holland an ace by Emmy Sher put the nail in set two for the Sycamores.

Set three began similarly to set two as the teams traded the lead before the Cougars built a three-point, 10-87 advantage. The offenses continued to battle until SIUE strung together six straight to jump to a nine-point, 20-11 lead that ultimately Indiana State was unable to come back from. The Sycamore offense continued to battle led by kills from Whetstone and Robart, as Indiana State went on a 7-2 run before ultimately dropping the set to the Cougars.

Following their first set win of the match, the Cougars carried that momentum into set four. Indiana State built a 20-16 lead before SIUE used a six-point run to take just a two-point lead over the Sycamores in the final part of the set, 23-21. The Sycamores continued to battle and extend the set with kills by Holland and Scott, but the Sycamores could not find an answer to the Cougars offense and the match went into the fifth and final set.

The Sycamores came out ready to put an end to the back-and-forth game. The Trees jumped out to a commanding 4-0 start with kills by Holland, Robart, and Scott. SIUE bounced back and began to try and chip away at taking the fifth set from the Trees. The Sycamores strung a few key kills by Holland to jump out to an 11-6 lead. With every point scored by the Sycamores, the Cougars responded but never cut into the deficit. Indiana State picked up their first win of the season on a final kill by Ava Robart.
 
 
News & Notes from both matches

• Three Sycamores made their debuts, and all three were named starters: Kimora Whetstone, Ava Robart, and Hadley Hardersen.
• As a team
  • Indiana State hit .271 in the second match (69-21-177). Last season, the Sycamores recorded only two matches with a higher percentage
    • 10/21 vs. Evansville (.290)
    • 9/14 vs. Lamar (.282)
  • The 69 kills are the most in a match since September 11, 2021 (70 vs. Austin Peay).
  • The Sycamores recorded 66 assists in the second match, the most since tallying 67 against IUPUI on September 8, 2017.
  • The Trees recorded 16 blocks, the most since October 30, 2021 against Valparaiso (14).
• Hadley Hardersen
  • Hardersen in the second match recorded the first triple-double in the program since 2007. The freshman setter finished with 14 kills, 24 assists, and 14 digs and an incredible .462 hitting percentage.
• Emmy Sher
  • She led the team in digs in the first match for only the second time in her career. She recorded a new career high in digs with 12 in the first match and finished with 10 in the second match. Last season, she finished with 10+ digs only once.
  • Her 22 total digs led the Trees for the day.
• Ava Robart
  • In match one, she recorded four service aces. The high for an individual all last season (done multiple times) was three.
  • Robart finished with eight kills in the opener and 15 in the second match, tying for second-most among the Sycamores.
• Kimora Whetstone
  • The senior transfer recorded four blocks in each match, the most in the opener for the Sycamores and tied with Ella Scott in the second match for the most on the team. She racked up 10 kills on the day between the two matches.
• Emily Weber
  • In match two the senior finished with a match-high 31 assists, marking the 12th time she's finished with 30+ at Indiana State.
• Kira Holland
  • The junior recorded 20 kills in the second match, one shy of tying her career high of 21 set in October 2023. She hit .246, the best since November 2023.
  • She notched her ninth double-double of her career also recording 12 digs. She finished with 20 between the two matches, the second-most on the team.

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