Oct. 16, 2014
Iowa City, Iowa - The No. 15 Illini were tested on the road this evening, battling a hungry Iowa team that did not hold anything back, but the Illinois blocking unit that propelled the Orange and Blue to victory, posting 20 blocks to capture their first five-set win of the season (27-29, 25-12, 25-23, 19-25, 15-11). With the win, Illinois improves to 13-5 (5-2 Big Ten), while Iowa slips to 8-10 (0-7 Big Ten).
Illinois middle blockers Katie Stadick and Anna Dorn were a part of all 20 Illini blocks, as Stadick put up a career- and team-season-high 11 blocks, including one solo, while Dorn was in on the remaining nine. Dorn's stellar performance at the net jumped her past Kristin Henriksen (1990-93) into second place all time in the Illini record books with 459 career block assists. Dorn sits behind only Director of Operations Johannah Bangert, who put up a Big Ten record 613 from 2007-10. Additionally, she passed former teammate Erin Johnson into sixth in career total blocks, with 475.
"I thought Katie did a really nice job of setting the tone," said Hambly. "She got us back in that first set and gave us a chance. I thought overall we did a decent job blocking, I think that's probably the strongest thing we did tonight. We relied on that for most of our points. Both middles did a great job; Dorn coming off the bench, because I wanted to start Maddie (Mayers), I thought she was flying around making plays. We still struggled a little bit to stop Brobst, so my hat's off to her, she's pretty special."
Joining the middles on each block were Illini pin hitters Morganne Criswell (7), Liz McMahon (5) and Jocelynn Birks (3) and setter Alexis Viliunas (4).
Birks led the match on offense, recording her 22nd career 20-kill performance with 21 kills in the match, adding 10 digs and an ace for her fourth straight double-double. Criswell, who did not start the match but came in midway through the first set, hit .375 with 17 kills, and McMahon followed with 14.
The Illini continued to employ the 5-1 with Viliunas at setter, as she posted 54 assists, seven digs and an ace. Brandi Donnelly led the team with 17 digs, and Danielle Davis added 11 digs and an ace.
Despite putting up some big numbers, the Illini struggled with consistency, making 36 attack errors and 9 service errors, both season highs. This comes just four days after Illinois made only three unforced attack errors and hit .315 at No. 5 Penn State. Iowa put up 18 blocks on the night, but the Illini offense hit the ball out of bounds an uncharacteristic 18 times, giving Iowa nearly a full set's worth of free points. Illinois maintained a .205 to .146 edge on hitting percentage, but this was due primarily to a 67-49 lead in kills, as the Hawkeyes made just eight unforced errors to put themselves in position to make a bid for the upset.
"We played really high error volleyball and made lots of mistakes," said Hambly. "We didn't come out with the kind of aggressiveness that we want. But I thought Iowa did some good things and they played hard; Iowa competed. I'm glad we got the `W' and that we survived, but I think everyone's pretty disappointed with the way that we approached it, and we're definitely disappointed with the errors that we made."
Lauren Brobst led Iowa's attack with 18 kills, and Taylin Alm hit .412 with nine. Hawkeye setters Kaylee Smith (24) and Alyssa Klostermann (21) split setting duties in the 6-2, while Michelle Fugarino tied for the match lead with 17 digs. Alessandra Dietz and Mikaela Gunderson paced the Hawkeyes with nine blocks and Brobst and Alm each had five.
"They have some great players," said Hambly. "Brobst is a nice player and she gave us some trouble. Janota, on the right side, she did a nice job. They have players that can play; this is the Big Ten and when we're not playing the defense that we need to, we're going to struggle."
Iowa capitalized on some early Illini errors to take an immediate 6-1 lead. After calling timeout, Illinois surged back to tie the score at six with the help of two kills and a block by Birks, but Iowa forged right back to take a larger lead, 19-12. Illinois did not back down, pulling within one, 23-22, but an attack error made it Iowa set point, 24-22. Illinois continued to push back, and a strong serve by Davis tied the score at 24. Nevertheless, Illinois was unable to take the lead, and despite fighting off five set points dropped the first set, 29-27.
Illinois bounced back in the second set, running away with a 25-12 victory with the help of seven kills on eight swings by Criswell to even the match at one set apiece.
The third set was tight, as Iowa took an early 7-4 lead, but Illinois' blockers helped the Illini go back in front, 13-12. An ace by Viliunas made it 21-17, but Iowa replied to pull within one, 21-20. Back-to-back kills by McMahon made it Illinois set point, 24-22, and an Iowa service error finished out the frame, 25-23, in Illinois' favor. The Illini posted an impressive eight blocks in the set, with five by Dorn and four from Criswell.
Illinois led 9-6 early in the fourth set, but a strong service run by Blomberg put the Hawkeyes out in front, 13-9, and that would be all the boost that Iowa would need to send the match to five, as the Black and Gold took the fourth set, 25-19.
The tiebreaker was neck-and-neck early, and it was Iowa that would take the first real lead, 8-5. A service error shifted the momentum back to the Illini, and back-to-back kills by Criswell tied the score at eight. A Dorn-McMahon block put the Illini on top, 9-8, and three straight Illini kills and a Stadick-McMahon block made it match point Illini, 14-10. Donnelly's next serve was overpassed by Fugarino, but the Illini were caught off guard as it dropped in for a Hawkeye point. However, the Illini would not allow another fifth-set lead to creep away, as Birks finished off the match with her 20th kill of the night to win the frame, 15-11, and capture the Big Ten victory.
Illinois concludes its road trip on Saturday, Oct. 18, with a visit to No. 13 Nebraska. The match will be streamed live on ESPN3 and will re-air on ESPN2 on Sunday at Noon.
