Nov. 22, 2014
Bloomington, Ind. - The No. 10 Fighting Illini closed their final regular-season road trip with a 3-0 sweep (25-18, 25-20, 25-17) of the Indiana Hoosiers, marking the Orange and Blue's 12th straight-set win of the season. The win lifts Illinois to 22-7 (14-4 Big Ten), while Indiana drops to 15-15 (6-12 Big Ten).
"I thought offensively we were pretty good," said head coach Kevin Hambly. "Lex got us in a good rhythm and we passed well, and when those two things happen, usually you score. I thought defensively, we were ok. We had no answer for Morgan Leach, but we got them out of system enough where they couldn't get their middles going and that made it a little bit easier on us, but I thought defensively we could have been a lot better despite the numbers."
Illinois made quick work of the Hoosiers, hitting an efficient .381 and committing just five unforced attack errors, while holding Indiana to a .110 clip with the help of 10 team blocks and 15 digs by Brandi Donnelly, who became just the fourth-ever Illini to post 500 digs in a season with her second-to-last dig of the night.
"She's going to be a great defensive player," said Hambly of the rookie libero. "She's relying a lot on athleticism and there's so much more skill development that she can have. I think the challenge for us is going to be to not reign her in too much and let her make plays, but to try to get her a bit more disciplined. As long as she stays healthy, she has a shot at being one of the best defensive players in our conference. She's pretty special."
Jocelynn Birks led the Illini offense with 11 kills, hitting .363 with six digs and three blocks, while Michelle Strizak hit .500 with 10 kills.
"Michelle had a favorable matchup with the setter, and she's so high that she was just kind of moving around and could do what she wanted to offensively," said Hambly. "She did the same thing against Wisconsin. I thought she did a good job. She's been very, very low error, which I think is awesome, and she was putting balls away tonight. She hit some shots we've seen her working really hard on, too; it's nice to see that stuff in practice and then have her come out and actually do it in the game. That made her tough to stop, when she's as high as she is."
Alexis Viliunas and Anna Dorn hit .714 and .625, respectively, with five kills each, and Liz McMahon tallied seven kills and five blocks. Middles Dorn (3) and Katie Stadick (4) combined for seven blocks on the night, and Viliunas registered 31 assists.
Champaign native and Hoosier senior Morgan Leach led Indiana with 11 kills, hitting .529, while Allison Hammond had eight and Taylor Lebo posted seven kills, but made 10 errors to hit -.130. Setter Megan Tallman matched Viliunas with 31 assists, and libero Courtney Harnish had a team-high nine digs.
Indiana led early in the first set, taking a 7-4 lead on a kill by Hammond, but a kill by Strizak started Illinois on a 4-0 run to take its first lead of the match, 8-7. After trading sideouts for the next several points, a kill by Stadick started a seven-point run served out by Birks to gave Illinois an 18-11 lead, and that was all the advantage Illinois would need, as the Orange and Blue took the opening set, 25-18.
Illinois opened up a quick 11-6 lead in the second set, then used a 6-0 run served out by Ali Stark, including three big blocks, to extend the advantage to 18-10. Indiana battled back behind strong serving by Kyndall Merrit to pull within three, 19-16, but late kills by Strizak and Birks helped the Illini claim the second set, 25-20.
After the third set was tied 3-3, the Illini went on a 9-3 run to take a 12-6 lead and never looked back, driving steadily to a 25-17 third-set victory and claiming the match, 3-0. Illinois sided out at an 82 percent rate in the frame, allowing Indiana to score on just three serves while not hitting the ball out of bounds once.
Illinois returns to Huff Hall on Wednesday for the final homestand of the regular season. The Illini will host No. 11 Nebraska at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 26, then close out conference play against Michigan on Senior Night at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29.
