CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fighting Illini volleyball team battled No. 10 Wisconsin late into the night, but fell just short as the Illini dropped a hard-fought five-set decision (25-22, 10-25, 25-22, 28-26, 15-12) on Wednesday night (Nov. 18) in Huff Hall.
With the loss, UI falls to 18-10 and 9-8 in the Big Ten, while the Badgers move to 21-6 and 13-4 in the league standings.
"That was obviously a tough one; you can hear it in the girls' voices," said head coach Kevin Hambly. "It was tough, and we had opportunities to get up 2-1 in the third set. I think that was the one that is going to stay with me; is that we could not close that out. I think we were up 21-17 and we could not close that out. It was nice to see us battle back, because sometimes in that situation you have a hard time getting going again. Our girls worked their way into playing at a high level in that fourth set, and did a nice job. [They] defended well, and fought, and clawed, and scrapped. And, to be up 8-5 at the turn [of set five] and not be able to finish that, it is frustrating as well. That's a good team and we gave ourselves a chance. It just would have been nice to finish one of those. We need to get one of these, and it would have been nice to finish [this one]."
After coming back from a 2-1 deficit to win the fourth set and send the match to the fifth and final period, the Illini grabbed a 7-4 lead with three-straight kills from redshirt-senior Jocelynn Birks. UI continued to hold its lead until the Badgers used a 5-2 mini-run to even the score at 11-11. From there it was all Wisconsin as UW scored the next four of five points to take the fifth, 15-12, and earn a dramatic 3-2 victory.
The Badgers jumped out to a quick start with the first five points of the match before junior Naya Crittenden put the Illini on the board. UI battled back to close within 12-10, but a 5-1 mini run by the visitors pushed their lead to 17-11. The Illini responded with their own run, putting together a 7-2 sprint to cut the lead to two at 19-18, but UW grabbed a 23-20 and finished off the set for a 25-22 win.
It was a much faster beginning for the Illini in set two as the home team ran out to a 12-1 edge behind an 11-0 run, including 10 points coming on the serve of senior Julia Conard. The Orange and Blue stretched their lead to 20-5, before taking the second, 25-10.
As was the story for the first set, Wisconsin raced out to a 5-1 lead in the third, but the Illini battled back to knot the score at 8-8. It was back-and-forth action from then on with 10 ties and six lead changes. The Illini looked like they were in position to take the set at 21-17, but an 8-1 run the Badgers gave the visitors the 25-22 set win and the 2-1 edge in the match.
In a back-and-forth fourth set that saw 18 ties and five lead changes, neither team grabbed more than a two point lead until the Badgers went up 13-10 on five-straight points. Down three, the Illini used a 7-1 run to take a 17-14 advantage. Three-straight Badger Points then evened the score at 17-17. Needing to win the fourth set to keep the match going, the Illini fought off two UW match points to tie the set at 26-26, before back-to-back Badger errors forced by UI sent the match to the decisive fifth set.
As a team, the Illini recorded a .200 hitting percentage and 16 total blocks, while the Badgers hit .160 and turned in 13 total blocks.
Junior Katie Stadick posted a game-high 14 kills on 28 swings for a .393 hitting percentage to go along with seven block assists. Crittenden also notched 14 kills on 20 attacks for a .333 hitting percentage.
With 13 kills and a season-high 19 digs, Birks registered her 11th double-double of the season and 53rd of her career, while sophomore Brandi Donnelly led the Illini with 21 digs and Conard totaled 17 digs.
Freshman setter Jordyn Poulter tallied 54 assists and a season-high six blocks, with classmate Ali Bastianelli adding eight blocks, including two solo rejections.
Illinois next host Indiana in its regular-season home finale on Saturday night at 7 p.m. CT in Huff Hall. The Illini will be honoring seniors Conard, Birks, Alexis Viliunas, Ali Stark, Kathryn Polkoff and redshirt-junior Maddie Mayers following the conclusion of the match.
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