NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State volleyball team will begin play at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Northern Iowa's McLeod Center Thursday in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The No. 5 seed Redbirds will open up against No. 4 seed Southern Illinois in the first quarterfinal match, beginning at 5 p.m.
Illinois State (16-14, 9-9 MVC) dropped both its meetings with Southern Illinois (21-11, 12-6) this season, though both were close matches. The most recent match, Nov. 4 at Redbird Arena, went a full five sets before the Salukis prevailed.
The winner of the Illinois State-Southern Illinois match will advance to face top seed and MVC regular-season champion Missouri State (25-7, 16-2) on Friday at 5 p.