TERRE HAUTE, Ill. – For a second straight match, Indiana State showed that it can compete with the perennial top teams in the Missouri Valley Conference. Unfortunately for the Sycamores Saturday night, their fight fell just a few points short against Drake in a four-set defeat (25-21, 18-25, 26-24, 25-23) inside ISU Arena.
Curry Kendall continued her strong start to Missouri Valley Conference play with a career-high 22 kills, leading all players in the match while surpassing 20 kills in a match for the first time in her career. Kendall also added 13 digs and a pair of aces to notch her third straight double-double.
Corinne Knapp added 13 kills and matched her season high of seven digs, while
Kira Holland also finished with a double-double with a10 kills and 10 digs.
Avery Hales dished out 47 assists and added 13 digs, finishing with a double-double for the third straight match.
Taylor Knuth etched her name into the Sycamore history books Saturday night with seven service aces, a program top-10 mark and the most by a Sycamore in a single match since the early stages of the 2023 season.
Set 1 | Drake 25, Indiana State 21
After starting the opening set strong with kills from Kendall and
Lily Mueller, Drake broke through with a 7-3 run to go in front 11-6. The Bulldogs extended their lead to as many as seven in the set but the Trees kept chipping away, largely due to nine kills from Kendall in the frame. Back-to-back kills from Kendall along with back-to-back service aces from Knuth forced Drake to burn both of its timeouts late in the set, but the Bulldogs weathered Indiana State's late run to claim the first set 25-21.
Set 2 | Indiana State 25, Drake 18
After trading early runs to start the second, the Sycamores found their rhythm with kills from Knapp and
Ella Scott to take a 9-6 lead. The Blue and White continued their momentum with a five-point run midway through the set, keyed by two kills from Holland and an ace from Kendall, extending their advantage to 16-9 in the process. Indiana State pushed its lead out to as many as eight following kills from Scott and Mueller to make it 20-12. Drake made a run of its own to halve the Sycamore lead to 22-18, but kills from Scott and Kendall alongside an ace from Knuth clinched a 25-18 set win for the Trees.
Set 3 | Drake 26, Indiana State 24
Kendall kept her strong night going with a trio of early kills in the third set, but the visitors broke through with a 5-1 run to go in front 13-9. Kills from Holland, Mueller and Kendall, along with another service ace from Knuth, helped the Sycamores go back in front, but another Drake run out of the media timeout saw the Bulldogs pull ahead 18-14. Indiana State's never say die mentality was on full display down the stretch, as aces from Knuth and Kendall alongside a pair of kills from the latter tied the set at 22-all. Knapp gave the Trees set point moments later with a kill, but Drake scored the last three points to eke out a 26-24 win in the third.
Set 4 | Drake 25, Indiana State 23
Indiana State jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the fourth with kills from Mueller, Kendall and Holland, but Drake bounced back to level the set in what became a back-and-forth affair. Four kills from Holland before the media timeout had the Trees within a point of the Bulldogs midway through the set, with Kendall tacking on a pair of kills out of the break to put Indiana State ahead. Drake finally broke the deadlock with a four-point run to go up 24-21, but the Sycamores weren't going down without a fight. Kills from Scott and Holland thwarted a pair of set points, but the Bulldogs finally prevailed in a nailbiting 25-23 fourth set.
News and Notes
- Taylor Knuth' seven aces were the most by a Sycamore in a match this season and ranked sixth in a match in program history.
- Knuth's seven aces are also tied for the most in a match during the 25-point rally scoring era, and were the most in a match by an Indiana State player since Emma Kaelin had seven against Austin Peay on Sept. 1, 2023.
- Knuth became the third different Sycamore to set a program top-10 single-match mark for aces this season, as both Corinne Knapp (vs. Milwaukee) and Curry Kendall (at Murray State) have recorded six aces in a match during the 2026 campaign.
- Curry Kendall's 22 kills were a career high and the most by a Sycamore in a match this season, while she also maintained an efficient .308 hitting percentage across her 52 attempts.
- Kendall became the second Sycamore with a 20-kill match in the last three matches after Corinne Knapp tallied 21 terminations against Murray State.
- The junior right side also surpassed 200 kills for the season in Saturday's match and cracked the top five in the MVC for kills per set during conference play this year.
- Indiana State had five players record double-digit digs for the second time in the last three matches, with Macy Lengacher (14), Avery Hales (13), Curry Kendall (13), Kira Holland (10) and Emmy Sher (10) all averaging at least 2.50 digs per set in Saturday's contest.
- Indiana State continued its statistical advantage in a plethora of categories Saturday, finishing with more kills (64-58), assists (60-55), digs (71-70) and aces (9-2) than Drake.
- The 64 kills, 60 assists and 71 digs were all high marks for Indiana State in a home match this season.
- Indiana State's middle blockers had one of their strongest matches from an attacking standpoint, as Ella Scott (8-0-16) and Lily Mueller (8-2-14) combined for 16 kills on a .467 hitting percentage (14-2-30).
- Kira Holland's 10 kills put her at 976 for her career, with the senior outside hitter needing just 24 to become the 13th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills. Holland also recorded her 54th career match with double-digit kills, the most on the active roster.
Up Next
Indiana State makes a quick road trip to Bradley for a 7 p.m. first serve Thursday night, before playing host to Illinois State for its Dig Pink match October 17 at 5 p.m.
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