Sept. 26, 2014Champaign, Ill. - No. 16 Illinois opened Big Ten play on Friday night by hosting the newest member of the conference, Maryland. The Illini welcomed the Terrapins to the conference with a swift defeat, topping UMD, 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-17). With the win, the Illini improve to 9-3 (1-0 Big Ten), while Maryland drops to 7-4 (0-1 Big Ten).
Jocelynn Birks heated up as the match went on, hitting .444 with 15 kills on the night, including six on seven swings in the second set alone. She added 10 digs on the night for her fifth double-double of the season. Ali Stark hit .429 with eight kills, waiting until the third set to make her first of just two errors in the match, while Morganne Criswell registered seven kills.
Allison Palmer led the match with 16 assists, and Alexis Viliunas had a double-double with 14 assists and 10 digs. For the second time in eight days, the Illini did not allow an ace to their opponent due primarily to a solid defensive performance from reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week Brandi Donnelly, who led the match with 12 digs, adding seven assists and a service ace. Fellow defensive specialist Danielle Davis had just three digs in the match, but landed a service ace and registered her first career kill on a swing out of the back row.
"I'm happy that our setters dug as many balls as they did and that we got good swings on them," said head coach Kevin Hambly. "We had been working really hard on that and teams will attack us that way. Brandi Donnelly did a really nice job."
Katie Stadick led the Illini net defense with four blocks, and Liz McMahon and Anna Dorn each assisted on three, helping the Illini hold Maryland to an .053 clip while attacking a .326 efficiency.
Ashleigh Crutcher led the Terrapins with eight kills, followed by Hailey Murray with six. Carlotta Oggioni (11 assists) and Whitney Craigo (10) shared setting duties, and libero Amy Dion led the team with 10 digs. Murray was tops on the team with three of the Terps' five blocks, including one solo.
Donnelly served the Illini to a 6-1 lead to start the match, and a late service run by Davis extended the Illini's lead to 19-7, as Illinois took the first set, 25-19.
The Illini were off and running again in set two, leading 11-4 early then extending that to 17-6. However, a late push by Maryland fueled by several Illini errors helped the Terps pull back into the match, getting as close as four, 23-19. However, Criswell then subbed back in after being replaced for much of the set by Katie Roustio, and for the second straight set, slammed a kill for set point, 25-21.
Illinois led 7-4 to start the third set, but three Illini errors allowed the Terps to tie the score at seven. Illinois went back ahead 11-10 then used kills by Stark, Birks and Stadick to push out in front 16-10 and take control of the set. The Illini soon led 20-11 off a kill by Criswell, and despite a minor Maryland surge, the Orange and Blue used a Dorn-McMahon block to close the match with a 25-17 win in the third.
"Once they called a timeout (at 13-10), we came out and played a whole lot better," said Hambly. "And that was when Jocelynn had a big kill and Danielle had her swing and we saw the energy level change. I thought we finished playing better."
Illinois hosts the other new member of the Big Ten conference on Saturday night, when Rutgers makes its first-ever trip to Champaign. The Illini will meet the Scarlet Knights at 7 p.m. on Sept. 27.
