NORMAL — With a season-high, Hoopfest-boosted crowd of 1,806 looking on, the Illinois State volleyball team wanted more than victory at Redbird Arena on Friday.
"One of our goals coming into this match was to win hearts and minds of people who have never watched a volleyball match," said Redbird coach Leah Johnson after a 25-15, 21-25, 25-22, 25-21 victory over Valparaiso. "I felt like we did that."
Johnson labeled the outing her team's highest quality victory because of Valpo's No. 53 national RPI rating compared to the Redbirds at No. 61.
"This is a good win for us, one that we needed to get," said Johnson, whose team improved to 14-5 overall and 6-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference ahead of Saturday's 7:30 p.