Nov. 25, 2005

Cedar Falls, Iowa - Mary Catherine Richmond had 13 kills, and two other Illinois State players reached double figures, to lead the third-seeded Redbirds to a 3-0 win over #6 Bradley Friday morning in the quarterfinals of the 2005 State Farm MVC Volleyball Championship. Game scores were 30-19, 30-25 and 30-23.

Richmond was joined in double figure kills by Savannah Knowles with 12 and Laura Doornbos with 11. Bradley's Lindsay Stalzer led all players with 25 kills. Stalzer's 25 kills tied her for the 11^th most in a MVC tournament match, while her 66 attack attempts was tied for the seventh most in conference tournament history.

Illinois State went on a 9-2 run midway through the first game, breaking an 11-all tie and opening up a 20-13 lead, and cruise to a 30-19 win. Savannah Knowles had seven kills and five digs in the first game for the Redbirds. As a team, ISU hit a whopping .442 in the game (20-1-43). Missouri Valley Conference MVP Lindsay Stalzer had 11 kills in the first game alone for Bradley.

The Redbirds took a 2-0 lead after a late run in the second game. The match was tied at 23-all, but after a timeout the Redbirds went on an 8-2 run to claim a 30-25 win. Mary Catherine Richmond had two kills and a block assist during that stretch.

Illinois State led throughout the third game, jumping out to a 7-3 lead, and Bradley never getting closer than four points the rest of the way. For the match, Illinois State hit .324 (57-13-136) for the match, while Bradley hit .110 (42-27-136).

With the win, Illinois State (18-11) advances to tonight's semifinals, where it will face second-seeded Missouri State (22-8) at 5:00 p.m. Bradley's season ends with a record of 16-17.