IOWA CITY, Iowa. – The Illinois volleyball team turned in a gutsy performance in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday (October 20) night, fighting off three-straight match points and ending the fifth set with five unanswered points for a 3-2 (25-23, 21-25, 25-19, 23-25, 16-14) win over Iowa, the fourth-straight Big Ten Conference victory for the Illini.
With the win, the Illini improve to 16-4 and enter in a three-way tie for third place in the Big Ten with Minnesota and Michigan State with a 7-2 record, while the Hawkeyes drop to 14-8 and 3-6 in the league standings.
The Illini had four players reach double digit kills, led by a career-high 16 kills on a .314 hitting percentage from freshman Megan Cooney, with sophomore Jacqueline Quade joining her with a team-high 16 kills on the night. Junior Ali Bastianelli totaled 14 kills and a match-high nine blocks, while redshirt-sophomore Beth Prince notched 12 in the win.
Junior Jordyn Poulter continued her impressive play and came within two blocks of the program's 13th triple-double with 52 assists, 14 digs and eight blocks to go along with an ace. It was the setter's second-straight double-double, sixth of the year and 16th of her career.
Defensively, freshman Morgan O'Brien led the Illini with a career-high 19 digs, while sophomore Caroline Welsh joined her in double figures with 11 digs.
After the Hawkeyes came back to force a decisive fifth set, the two teams battled back and forth in a final frame that saw 10 ties and five lead changes. Neither team grabbed more than a two-point edge until the Hawkeyes strung together four-straight points to set up triple-match point at 14-11. Down but not out, the Illini responded with five-straight points to end the match as a Quade kill, followed by back-to-back Bastianelli and Poulter stuffs tied the score, before a Quade kill and another Bastianelli and Poulter stuff sealed the win.
It was a tightly contested opening set to the match, with the first period also seeing 10 ties and six lead changes. After falling behind early, the Illini took advantage of back-to-back Hawkeye errors to take a 9-6 lead. Iowa answered back to even things up at 11-11 as the two teams sided out throughout the next several points until UI broke a 21-21 tie by taking four of the last six points in the first for the 25-23 set one win.
The Illini used a quick start in the second to build a 6-2 edge following a service ace from O'Brien, but a 7-2 Hawkeye run put the home team ahead at 9-8. From there it was a side-out battle throughout much of the set, before back-to-back points gave the Hawkeyes a 21-18 advantage. An Iowa service error cut the Illini deficit to 23-21, but the Hawkeyes knotted the match at 1-1 with back-to-back points to take set two, 25-21.
The Illini broke an early 6-6 tie in the fourth with four-straight points, capped by a block from junior Blyake Hranicka and Cooney, to take a 10-6 edge. The visitors continued to hold the lead as a 7-2 run, including four-straight points highlighted by back-to-back service aces from freshman Emmaline Walters, propelled the Illini to an 18-10 advantage. After a Bastianelli kill set up set point at 24-19, the Hawkeyes fought off three set points before the junior middle blocker finished it off with a kill.
It was a similar start in the fourth with the Hawks breaking an earlier 6-6 tie on a 6-2 run to build a 12-8 edge. Iowa continued to lead at 16-12, but the Illini fought back to close within one at 18-17 on a Poulter kill. Illinois remained within a point over the next few points, before back-to-back points knotted the score at 21-21. The Illini looked poised to finish off the match in four after an ace from freshman Tyanna Omazic gave the visitors their first lead of the set at 23-22 and appeared to have match point at 24-23 when the Hawkeyes were flagged for being in the net. Iowa then challenged the call and was awarded with the call being overturned and the point given to the home team due to the Illini being ruled in the net instead. The Hawkeyes then finished off the fourth with a Taylor Louis kill to force a decisive fifth set.
The Illini continue their road swing in Lincoln, Neb., to take on No. 7 Nebraska on Saturday (October 21) at 7 p.m. CT in the Devaney Center.
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