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Oct. 11, 2012

NORMAL, Ill. -The Illinois State (10-7, 4-3 MVC) volleyball team is back home to host Creighton and Drake. ISU with match-up against Creighton on Friday at 7 p.m., and will play Drake Saturday at 7 p.m.

The Redbirds split on the road last weekend, losing to Wichita State in four-sets, but outlasted Missouri State in a hard-fought five-set battle Saturday night. The team was led by Brooklyn Hlafka, who marked double-digit kills against Wichita State and Missouri State for the first time during MVC conference play. Hlafka posted 13 kills back-to-back nights and recorded only one attack error for a match- high .414 hitting percentage against the Shockers. ISU's win against Missouri State was the Redbirds' first five-set win of the season against.

Creighton (15-3, 6-1 MVC) continued its best 18-match start in the program's modern history with two wins against Northern Iowa and Bradley last weekend. The win over UNI snapped its 59-match MVC win streak and moved the Bluejays into a tie for first place. Megan Bober led the Jays with 65 assists and 22 kills last weekend and turned in her 11th career triple-double vs. Bradley (14 kills, 30 assists, 13 digs). Kelli Browning had a team-best 15 blocks on the weekend, while Kate Elman had 43 digs The Bluejays finished the 2011 season with an overall record of 17-14 and a 12-6 conference mark. The team returns nine letterwinners and five starters and adds four newcomers to the roster.

Drake (2-12, 1-6 MVC) battled back from trailing 2-1 against Bradley for its first MVC win since defeating Southern Illinois, 3-2, on Oct. 22, 2011. Drake had a season-best five players with double figures kills led by senior Bentley Mancini's 18, which tied her career-high.
The Bulldogs finished the 2011 season with a 9-23 overall record and a 5-13 finish in league play. Drake returns four letter winners and four starters, with the addition of six newcomers.

The Illinois State Athletics Department will honor all health care professionals at the Friday, Oct. 12, match against the Bluejays and will "Paint the Arena Pink" for the Saturday, Oct. 13 game against Drake in support of breast cancer awareness.

The Redbirds will be wearing pink apparel in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and admission to the match will be just $1, and $1 hot dogs and pink lemonade will be for sale. Fans will be admitted for free if they bring a card for those being treated at the Community Cancer Center. 

Redbird volleyball games can be heard live on GoRedbirds.com and WJBC.com.

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