NORMAL — After sending an Indiana State attempt back to the side of the net it came from, Illinois State sophomore Sarah Kushner took to the air for a celebratory spinning leap on the way to huddle with her teammates in the opening set Thursday at Redbird Arena.
Kushner, whose block gave ISU a 16-6 advantage, had energy to burn in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and so did the top-seeded Redbirds in a convincing 25-13, 25-20, 25-17 win over the No. 8-seeded Sycamores.
“The first set we were on fire,” said ISU coach Leah Johnson.