McLean County Times

The Illinois State volleyball team lost to the Drake Bulldogs in three sets during their home match on Friday evening. The final scores for each set were 25-15, 25-22, and 25-22 in favor of Drake.

In the first set, Drake took an early lead by scoring the first three points and maintained control throughout. Illinois State managed to tie the score at several points early on but could not keep up as Drake finished with a ten-point margin.

The second set was closely contested, featuring 11 ties and four lead changes. Both teams stayed within three points of each other until late in the set when Drake scored the final three points to win 25-22.

Illinois State started strong in the third set with a six-point run, leading by as many as five at one point. However, Drake came back to tie and eventually pulled ahead. Although Illinois State tried to rally near the end, they could not close the gap and lost the final set by three points.

Caitlyn Little and Aida Shadewald led Illinois State with seven kills each. Little has now led her team in kills ten times this season while Shadewald has done so three times. Arianna Rossi recorded a match-high 20 digs for Illinois State, marking her sixth match this season with at least 20 digs and her first time achieving that number in a three-set match. Shadewald also contributed four blocks, tying her season high.

Ella Craggs led Illinois State with 25 assists, continuing her streak of leading the team in assists for five straight matches. She also recorded her sixth double-double of the season after tallying 13 digs.

Illinois State will play again at home on Saturday evening against Southern Illinois as part of Homecoming Day celebrations.