EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Fighting Illini volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (18-25, 24-26, 19-25) decision to No. 8 Michigan State on a cold Friday (November 10) night in Jenison Field House.
For the second-straight match, redshirt-sophomore Beth Prince led the Illini offense, registering 13 kills, while freshman Megan Cooney added eight kills on the night.
Junior Jordyn Poulter totaled 29 assists and two service aces for the Illini (18-8, 9-6), with senior Brandi Donnelly posting a match-high 16 digs in the setback.
As a team, the Illini outblocked the Spartans (18-6, 11-4), nine to four, with freshman Tyanna Omazic turning in a match-high seven blocks.
It was all Sparty to open the match as the home team used a 6-2 start to build an 11-4 edge early in the first set. A pair of kills from Cooney brought the Illini within 14-9, but MSU responded with four-straight points for an 18-9 advantage. Illinois continued to fight, using an 8-2 run to cut the lead to 21-17, before three-straight Spartan points stalled the Illini rally as MSU took the opener, 25-18.
MSU had another quick start in the second with an 8-2 edge, but three-straight UI points – capped by an ace from sophomore Caroline Welsh – closed the gap to 10-7. After a Cooney kill kept the Illini within two at 16-14, the Spartans responded by taking four of the next five points for a 20-15 advantage. Five-straight Illini unanswered points then knotted the score at 20-20, before a Poulter ace again tied the set at 23-23 after MSU went ahead by two. An MSU kill gave the home team set point at 24-23, but Prince responded with a kill of her own to tie it at 24-24. An Autumn Bailey kill, followed by a service ace then sent the Spartans into the break leading 2-0 in the match.
After MSU took a quick 4-1 edge to start the third stanza, the Illini battled back with a 5-1 run to grab their first lead of the match at 6-5, capped by a Cooney solo block, followed by stuff from Omazic and sophomore Jacqueline Quade. From there it went back-and-forth until MSU broke a 10-10 tie with an 8-3 run to pull ahead at 18-13. An Omazic and Cooney block brought the Illini within 21-16, but MSU would take the next three of four points to set up match point at 24-17. After UI fought off a pair of match points, a Spartan ace sent the home team to victory.
The Illini continue their tour of the state with a trip to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan for the second time in an eight-day span on Saturday (November 11) in Cliff Keen Arena at 6 p.m. CT.
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