CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – It was a special night in Huff Hall on Saturday (Nov. 21) as the Fighting Illini volleyball team sent its seniors off in style with a 3-0 sweep (25-23, 25-16, 25-20) of Indiana in their regular-season home finale.
With the win, the Illini improved to 19-10 and 10-8 in the Big Ten Conference, while the Hoosiers fell to 15-15 and 5-13 in league standings.
"We played a little sloppy, it was a little bit emotional," said head coach Kevin Hambly. "It was hard to get the kids going. It's senior night, so you never know what you're going to get. Either they're going to come out amazing, or they're going to carry the weight of what it is. They certainly carried it, but we got through it and we played well enough to win. We figured out something things in the first to get through it. I thought we played pretty well; we just weren't in it. It was a strange match. All that matters is that we got out with a win, and the seniors go out on a high note at Huff Hall. I think that gives us a good shot to get in the tournament, [and] now we're fighting to still get a seed, which is going to be a lot to do, but we'll just keep battling and see what happens."
It was an emotional start to the match as all six seniors joined lone underclassman Brandi Donnelly in the starting lineup. The Hoosiers jumped out to an early 8-4 lead, but behind a 10-4 Illini run, the home ream stormed ahead to take a 14-12 lead. It was a back-and-forth affair from then on as the two teams evened the score seven times through the rest of the match. With the score deadlocked at 23-23, junior Michelle Strizak put IU up before a Hoosier attack error sent the home team to the 25-23 set one win.
Building off the momentum from the opening period, the Illini jumped out to an early 8-3 edge in the second set. With the Hoosiers closing to within 9-8, the Orange and Blue responded by scoring the next six of seven points en route to a 15-9 advantage. They would push their lead out to 17-11 on an Ali Bastianelli kill, before using seven-straight points to take a 24-15 lead and closed out the set at 25-16.
The Illini used another fast start in the third as they built a 7-3 lead, before pushing their advantage out to 16-8 on a Hoosier attacking error. Trailing by seven at 18-11, the visitors used an 8-3 run to close the gap to two at 21-19, but a big-time kill from junior Naya Crittenden stopped the Hoosier momentum as the Illini scored the next three of four points to win the set, 25-20, and earn the 3-0 victory.
As a team, the Illini posted a .252 hitting percentage and 10 total blocks, while limiting the Hoosiers to just a .146 hitting percentage.
Strizak led the way for the Illini offense with a match-high 11 kills on 30 swings for a .300 hitting percentage, while senior Jocelynn Birks added eight kills on the night. Junior Katie Stadick registered a team-high five blocks to go along with seven kills.
Freshman setter Jordyn Poulter totaled 21 assists, while senior Alexis Viliunas collected nine.
Sophomore Brandi Donnelly notched a match-high 18 digs, while senior Julia Conard posted 13.
Following the conclusion of the match, the Illini recognized its six seniors, Birks, Conard, Viliunas, Maddie Mayers, Ali Stark and Kathryn Polkoff for their contributions to the Fighting Illini volleyball program.
"They're incredible people," said Hambly of his six seniors. "All the seniors are just incredible people. There's some kids on there, like Kathryn Polkoff, that you have no idea the kind of impact she's had on the program. Maddie Mayers, the impact that she's had on us every day in practice, and in just in general being around the program. And then the kids that are playing a lot, the one ones everyone sees, but no one knows. [The fans] got to know their personality a little bit tonight, which was cool. Julia, I'm really proud of her. She's worked really hard to get on the court, and finds a way to get out there. She's battled for that. Lex, has been an unbelievable teammate, as has Ali Stark. And Jocelyn, she's going to go down as one of the best players in the history of Illinois."
"It's just been a pleasure to coach these guys, and it's been a lot of fun to be around them and see them grow. They're so different now than they were when they came in. I was talking to my wife, I can't believe I remember the visit. I remember the visits for each of them, sitting down and having those conversations, and now this is the last time that, maybe, they play in Huff Hall. It's gone way too fast, but I'm proud of what they've done and what they've accomplished. More importantly, I'm proud of who they've become and how hard they've worked to become these great people. They've done a lot of that on their own, which is awesome."
Illinois next wraps up its regular season play with a two-match road trip, first traveling to Lincoln, Neb., to take on Nebraska on Wednesday (Nov. 25) at 7 p.m. CT. The Illini will then head to Ann Arbor, Mich., to face Michigan in their regular-season finale on Friday (Nov. 25) at 5 p.m.
For more Fighting Illini volleyball news, stay tuned to FIGHTINGILLINI.com and follow the team on Twitter @IlliniVBall and like Fighting Illini Volleyball on Facebook.
