MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Illinois volleyball team gave No. 5 Minnesota all it could handle, before falling in a five-set (25-22, 25-18, 25-18, 25-20, 11-15) heartbreaker on Wednesday (October 25) night in Maturi Pavilion.
The Illini (16-6, 7-4) were paced by redshirt-freshman Beth Prince with a team-high 18 kills, with sophomore Jacqueline Quade posting her second double-double of the season with 13 kills and 12 digs. Freshman Tyanna Omazic had a career night with a career-high 10 kills and equaled a career-high with nine blocks.
Junior Jordyn Poulter notched her seventh double-double of the season and 17th of her carer with 49 assists and 12 digs, while freshman Morgan O'Brien registered a career-high 24 digs. Sophomore Annika Gereau joined the duo in double figure digs with 10 on the night.
As a team, the Illini outblocked the Gophers (20-2, 9-2), 17 to six, with junior Ali Bastianelli posting eight blocks and freshman Megan Cooney recording six stuffs in the match.
The Gophers jumped out to an early 3-1 advantage, but the Illini used a 6-1 run to build a 7-4 edge following back-to-back Minnesota errors. A service ace from Gereau made it 14-10, before four-straight points pushed the Illini lead to 21-12, capped by an ace from sophomore Caroline Welsh. The Gophers answered back to close within 24-22 with a 10-3 run, including fighting off three set points, but Prince ended the UM rally with a kill off the block to convert the fourth Illini set point for the 25-22 set one win.
The Gophers came out firing in the second set en route to a 12-4 lead, but the Illini rallied with an 8-2 run to close within 14-11 on an Omazic block. The Illini continued to stay close and cut the lead to two at 17-15 following back-to-back Quade points, but again the Gophers responded with an 8-3 run to finish off the 25-18 set win and knot things at 1-1.
After an Omazic kill tied the score at 3-3 to start the third, the Gophers grabbed control of the set with a 10-3 run to take a 13-6 edge. Trailing at 20-12, the Illini continued to fight and put together three-straight points to close within 20-15 on a block from Poulter and Bastianelli. Back-to-back Prince kills made it 23-18, before the Gophers took a 2-1 lead in the match with a pair of kills for the 25-18 set victory.
The Illini held a two-point edge throughout the first several points before building an 11-7 advantage following back-to-back Omazic blocks. Four-straight points capped by a kill from Cooney pushed the Illini lead to 16-10, before a Quade and Bastianelli block put the visitors up 18-13. The Gophers responded to close within 20-17 on three-straight points, but Illini came back to take the next two points to stall the UM rally, before taking the fourth, 25-20 on back-to-back Gopher hitting errors and forcing a decisive fifth set.
The Illini raced out of the gates in the fifth by scoring the first three points – including a Gereau ace – and held an early 4-1 lead. The Gophers then rallied with an 8-2 run to grab a 9-6 advantage. A Prince kill closed the gap to 12-9, but the Gophers answered by taking the next two of three points to set up match point at 14-10. The Illini would fight off one match point, before a hitting error gave Minnesota the set and the match.
The Illini return to Huff Hall this weekend following a three-match road swing to host No. 1 Penn State on Saturday (October 28) at 7 p.m. CT.
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