Wichita State volleyball sweeps Illinois State to stay atop MVC

Wichita State took over the match with a 9-0 run in the second set on its way to a volleyball sweep at Illinois State on Sunday.

The Shockers (15-5, 8-1 Missouri Valley Conference) remained alone in first place in the MVC with their fifth straight victory (25-19, 26-24, 25-23), four of them in sweeps. Illinois State (12-8, 5-4) lost its third straight match.

Mikaela Raudsepp led WSU with 17 kills and had 10 digs. Jody Larson added eight kills and 20 digs. Setter Emily Hiebert recorded 37 assists and 11 digs. Tabitha Brown scored the final three points of the match and finished with seven kills.

The Shockers hit .237 and held the Redbirds to a .149 attack percentage.

Ali Line hit .308 and led Illinois State with 11 kills. WSU held middle Jaelyn Keene, who entered the match hitting an MVC-leading .462, to eight kills and a .190 attack percentage.

In the second set, the Redbirds led 23-14 before a kill by Brown started a run of nine unanswered points. Illinois State contributed four straight attack errors to fuel WSU’s rally. Another kill by Brown cut ISU’s lead to one point and the Shockers tied it 23-all on another attack error.

After the Redbirds grabbed a 24-23 lead, WSU finished the set with kills by Lehman, Larson and Lehman again.

Raudsepp recorded five kills in the first set with Hiebert handing out 13 assists.

The Shockers also had to rally in the third set. They trailed 11-8 before scoring three unanswered points. They didn’t trail again until the Redbirds took a 23-22 lead on Raudsepp’s attack error. WSU responded with three kills by Brown to win the match.

This story was originally published October 16, 2016 at 3:24 PM with the headline "Wichita State volleyball sweeps Illinois State to stay atop MVC."