CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fighting Illini volleyball team used a balanced team attack to earn their third-straight win with a straight-sets (25-21, 25-18, 25-22) victory over Maryland on the annual Pink Night match in Huff Hall on Saturday (October 14) night.
The Illini, who improve to 15-4 and 6-2 in the Big Ten Conference, had three players reach double figures in kills, with redshirt-sophomore Beth Prince pacing the team with 14 on a .538 hitting percentage, while junior Ali Bastianelli and Jacqueline Quade each turned in 12 on the night.
Junior setter Jordyn Poulter put together another strong outing as she registered her fifth double-double of the season and 15th of her career with 42 assists and tied for the team lead with 14 digs, while also adding four kills on a .800 hitting percentage and three blocks.
Poulter quarterbacked the Illini offense to a .318 hitting percentage, including hitting over .300 in the first two sets of the match.
After a kill from freshman Tyanna Omazic opened the match, the Terps (14-6, 3-5) jumped out to a quick 6-3 lead, but the Illini came back to knot the score at 7-7 on a Poulter kill. Three-straight UMD points pushed the visitors' edge to 16-12, but the Illini again fought back to even things at 17-17 after a challenge from head coach Chris Tamas was overturned and took the lead on a Poulter kill. Back-to-back Prince kills then pushed the UI edge to 21-18, before the Illini finished off the first by taking three of the last four points of the set.
The Illini came out firing in the second as four-straight points gave the Illini an early 9-4 advantage. After the Terps closed with two at 10-8, the Illini responded by scoring the next three points, capped by back-to-back kills from freshman Megan Cooney. Leading by four at 18-14, the Illini then grabbed control of the period with four unanswered points for the 22-14 lead. The two teams then traded points as a Cooney kill sent the Illini to a 25-18 set win and a 2-0 lead heading into intermission.
It was all Illinois out of the break with the home team scoring the first six of seven points to start the third. The Terps cut the edge to 11-8, but a Prince kill stemmed the rally as the Illini used a 4-1 mini run – capped by an ace from freshman Morgan O'Brien – to take a 19-13 advantage. UI looked poised to finish off the match after back-to-back kills from Bastianelli and Cooney made it 23-18, but three-straight Maryland points cut the edge to two at 23-21. After trading points, Quade then sealed the straight-sets win with a kill and the 25-22 set three victory.
Defensively, the Illini defense held the Terps to a .197 hitting percentage, with O'Brien also contributing a team-high 14 digs and two service aces in the win.
The Illini totaled seven blocks on the night, with Bastianelli, Quade and Omazic joining Poulter with three stuffs each against UMD.
The Illini next head on the road for a three-match swing, starting with a trip to Iowa City, Iowa, to take on the Hawkeyes on Friday (October 20), before heading to Lincoln, Neb., to face No. 4 Nebraska on Saturday (October 21) night. Both matches are set for 7 p.m. CT.
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