BOULDER, Colo. – In the opening match of the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge, the No. 17 Fighting Illini volleyball team pushed No. 9 Stanford to the brink, before falling 3-2 (22-25, 25-19, 12-25, 25-20, 12-15) in a five-set thriller on Saturday (Sept. 3) night at the Coors Events Center in Boulder, Colo.
With the setback, Illinois falls to 2-2 on the season, while the Cardinal improves to 2-1 in 2016.
"It was a great match," said head coach Kevin Hambly. "We had to be resilient. We had to fight back and we showed some grit. We were down in the fourth set and had to fight back and win that and then pulled it out. We lost a tough one and came back around and got our butts kicked in one and came back and fought. There was lot of good things that happened in that. We just want to win it to close the deal, but we got better in that match and at this time of year, that's what you are looking for. I think what it came down to at the end is that they executed better than we did and that's too bad because that's disappointing. That's usually what happens in tight sets, we just needed a little bit better execution. A couple of their big time players made some big time plays and we needed a couple of our kids to make some as well."
Senior Michelle Strizak led the Illini with her second-career double-double with a team-high 17 kills and 11 digs, while sophomore Ali Bastianelli set a program record with 14 block assists in the match.
After coming back and winning the fourth set, the Illini forced a decisive fifth set, their second-straight five-set match of the season. Following an early 3-3 tie, the Cardinal grabbed an 8-5 lead on a kill from Audriana Fitzmorris midway through the set. Strizak pulled the Illini within 10-8, but back-to-back Cardinal kills pushed the deficit to four at 12-8. A tip shot from senior Katie Stadick again brought UI within two at 13-11, but Stanford claimed two of the next three points to seal the 3-2 victory.
It was a back-and-forth opening set for both teams with 13 ties and five lead changes. Back-to-back blocks from Bastianelli and sophomore setter Jordyn Poulter propelled the Illini to the early 7-4 lead, but five-straight Stanford points put the Cardinal back on top at 9-7. The two teams then went on to trade points with seven ties over the next several points. With the score knotted at 21-21, Stanford finished off the set with a 4-1 mini run.
The Illini responded in the second period as a kill from senior Naya Crittenden midway through the set gave UI at 14-10 edge. After Stanford cut the score to 16-14, three-straight Illini points pushed the advantage to 19-14 as the Cardinal would not get closer them four points before a service ace from freshman Annika Gereau capped the set win.
It was all Stanford in the third set as the Cardinal opened with a 6-1 run to take the momentum right back from the Illini. Leading 11-7, the Cardinal pushed its advantage out farther on a 7-0 run for a 20-9 score. Redshirt-freshman Beth Prince's first career kill ended the Stanford run, but the Illini could not overcome a .467 hitting percentage as the Cardinal took a 2-1 edge in the match.
Stanford continued its momentum into the fourth frame with three-straight points to open the set. The Illini evened the score at 7-7, before a Strizak ace gave UI its first lead of the set. After again falling behind at 14-10, the Illini batted back to tie it up at 14-14 on another Strizak kill. The set entered its final tie at 20-20 as a Stanford service ace gave the Illini the edge, before redshirt-senior Allison Palmer served out the period to force the fifth and final set.
Crittenden posted her second-consecutive double figure kills outing with 13 on 26 swings and only four errors for a team-high .346 hitting percentage, while freshman Jacqueline Quade continued her string of matches with double figures with 10 on the night.
Poulter totaled a season-high 51 assists and added five block assists.
Junior Brandi Donnelly recorded her 20th match with at least 20 digs with 21 against the Cardinal.
As a team, the Illini had a .176 hitting percentage as well as four service aces and 15 total blocks.
Illinois will next wrap up the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge with its first televised match of the season, taking on host Colorado on the Pac-12 Network on Sunday, September 4 at 7 p.m. CT in the Coors Events Center.
