TEMPE, Ariz. – In a match that was never in doubt, sixth-ranked Illinois opened the Sun Devil Invitational with a quick sweep of the Texas Southern Tigers and moved to 8-1 on the 2015 season. Nearly every Illinois player from the bench saw action in the contest that never saw a tie or lead by the Tigers. Texas Southern fell to 2-9 on the season in the loss.
"We got to see some things from the kids off the bench," opened head coach Kevin Hambly. "We haven't had a lot of matches where we can go that deep into our bench, so it was nice to get them some action."
The Fighting Illini overpowered Texas Southern with set victories reading 25-13, 25-7 and 25-11, marking the second time this season that Illinois has held an opponent to single digits in a set. Additionally, this was the first time the Orange and Blue have held an opposing squad to seven points in a set since 2008 in a sweep over North Carolina.
"Beating a team in a set 25-7 means we played clean and respected our opponent and didn't let off the gas," shared Hambly.
With the first set victory, Illinois has moved to 9-0 in the opening frame this season. The Fighting Illini unit jumped out to an 8-2 lead and never looked back. UI's biggest lead was at the 21-8 margin thanks to a kill by Michelle Strizak. Illinois hit .269 in the opening set with 12 kills off of 26 attacks, while holding the Tigers to a -.087 reading.
Illinois hit flawlessly in the second set with 15 kills on 21 attempts for a .714 hitting percentage. To open the set, Illinois put the first five points on the board before Texas Southern tallied a kill. The Orange and Blue forged ahead to a 10-2 lead to force Texas Southern to use a timeout. Following the stoppage, the two sides traded points before Illinois jumped ahead to an 18-5 advantage to force the second Tiger timeout of the set. Illinois took five of the next six points before finishing it off. Ali Stark tossed up 10-straight serves in the frame, including her team-best ninth ace of the campaign.
Danielle Davis opened the final set for the Illinois side with the first five serves of the contest, including a pair of aces. The Tigers pulled within two at 6-4, but the Orange and Blue took the next four points to put the match out of reach. Illinois took five of the final six points in the match for its fifth-straight win.
Alexis Viliunas played the entire contest in the setting role, leading the team with 27 assists. Viliunas also contributed six kills on six attempts for a 1.000 hitting percentage to accompany a pair of digs and a blocking assist.
The Illini boasted a well-balanced attack with three players each registering nine kills. Stark and Katie Roustio posted .389 hitting percentages while Strizak, who also had nine kills, produced a figure of .174. As a squad, Illinois hit .402 in the contest while holding Texas Southern to a mark of -.041 on the day.
Kathryn Polkoff saw her first action of the season in the contest and registered the first kill of her Illinois career in addition to two attacks.
Defensively, Brandi Donnelly recorded 10 digs as well as a service ace in the contest. Stark had the second-most digs on the side with seven. The Orange and Blue put up a strong block as well; with three players tallying a combined five solo blocks. Maddie Mayers and Roustio each contributed a pair of solo blocks while Stark added one of her own.
Next for Illinois will be day two of the Sun Devil Invitational. The Fighting Illini will open with a noon CT contest with UNLV and play the tournament finale against No. 10 Arizona State at 9 CT.
