Nov. 8, 2014
Champaign, Ill. - After a tough five-set loss in Evanston on Wednesday night, No. 9 Illinois (19-6, 11-3 Big Ten) did not have to wait long for another shot at the Wildcats (15-10, 5-9 Big Ten), as the Illini took down Northwestern, 3-1 (25-15, 26-24, 22-25, 25-16) in the Big Ten rematch on Saturday night in front of 3,398 screaming fans at Huff Hall. The back-to-back matches marks the first time ever that the Illini have played the same opponent twice in a row during conference play.
"It's interesting to play the same team twice," said head coach Kevin Hambly. "It felt like practice where you knew where they were going to hit. Both teams, you just know kind of what they're going to do with the ball."
Jocelynn Birks and Liz McMahon tied for the team lead in the match with 14 kills apiece, while Birks posted her first 20-dig match since 2012, recording her Big Ten-leading 15th double-double with 21 digs, five blocks and three service aces. Michelle Strizak replaced Morganne Criswell in the third set, and went on to hit .316 with a career-high six kills and no errors to help invigorate the Illini offense late in the match.
"I thought we did much better offensively," said Hambly. "We really struggled to score [on Wednesday]. Jocelynn scored early, and I thought Liz did a good job of scoring late. And Michelle did a nice job coming in the last two [sets] and getting us some points and, at the very least, putting some pressure on them."
"She's a really athletic kid, so I think she just went for it," McMahon said of Strizak. "It was really cool to see. It's hard to come off the bench in a pressure situation, because you're already under pressure to go for it. She swung high and hard and found kills."
Alexis Viliunas guided the Illini offense with 38 assists and 13 digs, and all three defensive specialist posted double digits from the back row, helping the Orange and Blue to a season-high 85 digs. Brandi Donnelly tied Birks with 21 digs, Danielle Davis tallied 13, and Julia Conard put up 10, while the trio combined for four service aces on the night, including two by Conard.
Illinois' blockers put up a strong front at the net led by Anna Dorn, who posted her first double-digit blocking performance in three years with a match-best 11 stuffs. Dorn teamed up on the majority of them with McMahon who stuffed seven, while Katie Stadick put down an additional four of the team's 15.5. The Illini's strong defense limited Northwestern to hitting just .071 on the night, as the Wildcats hit above zero in only two of the four sets.
"I thought defensively and blocking-wise we did a really good job," said Hambly. "Offensively and passing we still have work to do, but the connection was getting better as we were going on."
Northwestern freshman Symone Abbott led the Wildcat offense with 13 kills on the night, followed by Kayla Morin with 10. Taylor Tashima had a double-double with 26 assists and 11 digs, while Caleigh Ryan pitched in an additional 14 assists and two aces. Libero Caroline Niedospial posted a match-best 27 digs, while Monica McGreal dug 20 balls in the back row and Morin tallied 12. Maddie Slater led the Wildcats at the net with five of the team's eight stuffs.
Three early blocks helped the Illini to a quick 11-5 lead in the first set, and the Orange and Blue continued to forge further ahead, reaching set point on a Birks kill and closing the frame, 25-15, on a swing by Stadick. Illinois held Northwestern to a .000 clip, with the help of five kills and six digs by Birks.
Unlike the first set, the second was highly contested, featuring 15 tie scores and eight lead changes. The Illini won the first point, but after leading 3-1, neither team had a lead larger than one until the Wildcats pulled ahead, 11-9, on a kill by Morin. Illinois countered to tie the score at 11, then took its largest lead of the frame, 19-15, on back-to-back aces by Birks. However, NU pushed back to tie the score then snuck ahead, 23-22, off two Ryan aces. Nevertheless, the Illini were the ones to finally close out the set, reaching their first set point on a Dorn-McMahon block then closing the stanza, 26-24, with a kill by McMahon.
Illinois jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead to start the third set, but Northwestern fought back to tie the score at eight. Illinois regained the lead, 12-10, on a block and a McMahon kill, then another McMahon kill made it 20-18. However, the Illini faltered late on serve receive, as Morin led the Wildcats to five unanswered points to take a 23-18 lead, and an Illini service error gave the third set to NU, 25-22.
The fourth set was close early, but after a 12-12 tie, a kill by Stadick made it 16-13 Illinois. An ace by Katie Dutchman pulled Northwestern back within one, 16-15, but a kill by Strizak kicked off a 9-1 run, as the Illini ran away with the final set, 25-16, and took the match, 3-1.
Illinois remains in town on Wednesday for a visit by No. 18 Ohio State, another team Illinois is eager to get revenge on after dropping a five-set heartbreaker in Columbus exactly one month ago. The Buckeyes and Illini will face off at 7 p.m. on Nov. 12.
