UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Fighting Illini volleyball battled with No. 15 Penn State, before falling 3-1 (18-25, 24-26, 25-19, 21-25) on Saturday (Nov. 26) night in the regular season finale in Rec Hall.
The Illini finish the regular season with a 17-14 overall record and a 10-10 mark in the Big Ten Conference, and will await their postseason fate until Sunday evening's NCAA Selection Show on ESPNU at 8 p.m. CT. The Nittany Lions conclude the season with a 22-9 mark and a 14-6 finish in the league.
Freshman Jacqueline Quade paced the Illini with a team-high 14 kills and only four errors in 28 swings for a .357 hitting percentage. Senior Michelle Strizak joined her in double figures with 11 kills, five digs and four blocks.
The Nittany Lions started quick, scoring the first four points of the match en route to an 8-1 lead. After PSU took its largest advantage of the set at 16-6, the Illini used a 7-3 run to close within 19-13, capped by a solo block from senior Katie Stadick. The two teams traded points before back-to-back scores gave the Lions set point at 24-16. Kills from senior Naya Crittenden and sophomore Ali Bastianelli fought off a pair of set points, but a Hedi Thelen kill finished off the first in favor of the home team.
It was a different story in the second set as the score was tied 19 times during the stanza, with PSU breaking through with three-unanswered points to grab a 21-19 edge. After the two teams traded points, a Simone Lee kill put the Nittany Lions up 23-20, but the Illini battled back with three of the next four points to knot things at 24-24 on a Quade ace. Back-to-back kills then gave PSU a 2-0 advantage in the match with a 26-24 set two win.
Out of intermission, it was a set of runs as the Illini raced out to a 5-1 lead highlighted by a pair of blocks from Bastianelli and sophomore Jordyn Poulter. With the Illini holding a 10-6 advantage, PSU used four-straight points to even the score at 10-10, but four of the next five points went to the Orange and Blue for a 14-11 IU edge. The Nittany Lions again knotted the score at 18-18, but a 7-1 Illini run closed the door in the third as back-to-back Strizak kills sealed the 25-19 triumph in the third.
The Illini continued their strong play into the fourth to jump out to a 4-1 edge on a Strizak kill, but PSU came back to tie things at 7-7. From there, it was a back-and-forth affair until the Nittany Lions broke a 16-16 tie with four-straight points for a 20-16 advantage. The Illini would twice cut the lead to one at 20-19 and 21-20, but PSU closed out the match by scoring four of the final five points for the 3-1 victory.
Crittenden and Bastianelli each came within one kill of double figures with nine on the night as the Illini registered a .302 hitting percentage in the match, while PSU hit at a .329 clip. Poulter posted 41 assists in the contest to go along with eight digs.
Junior Brandi Donnelly turned in a match-high 18 digs for the Illini.
As a team, Illinois totaled 12 blocks to the Nittany Lions' five, with Bastianelli pacing UI with six stuffs.
