COLUMBUS, Ohio. – The Illinois volleyball team ended the regular season with a thrilling five-set (17-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-22, 15-13) victory over Ohio State on Saturday (November 25) night in St. Johns Arena.
The Illini wrapped the 2017 regular season with a 21-10 overall record and a 12-8 mark in the Big Ten Conference, and will await their postseason fate until Sunday evening's NCAA Selection Show on ESPNU at 8 p.m. CT.
The Buckeyes conclude the season with a 15-16 mark and an 8-12 finish in the league.
Freshman Megan Cooney led four Illini hitters in double figures with 13 kills on a .435 hitting percentage, while sophomore Jacqueline Quade and redshirt-sophomore Beth Prince each totaled 12 kills and junior Ali Bastianelli added 10 in the win.
Junior Jordyn Poulter turned in her 21st career double-double and 11th this season with 46 assists and 15 digs.
Bastianelli led all players with seven blocks, while Cooney added four on the night.
Defensively, sophomore Caroline Welsh equaled a career-high with a team-high 16 digs, with senior Brandi Donnelly also contributing 14 in the win.
After the Illini fought back to force the match to a fifth set, they continued the momentum in the decisive stanza by taking the set's first two points en route to a 6-3 lead following a Bastianelli kill on a slide play. OSU battled back to tie things with three-straight points as the two teams sided out. With the Buckeyes leading 11-10, the Illini scored the next three points to pull ahead at 13-11. A Bastianelli slide kill then set up match point at 14-12 as the Buckeyes fought off the first set point, before an OSU attack went long for match point. The Buckeyes challenged the call, but it was confirmed and the Illini took the fifth, 15-13, for the 3-2 victory.
The Illini jumped out quickly in the opening set as a kill from Prince made it 5-2, but the Buckeyes rallied to knot the score at 8-8, before six-straight points gave the home team a 16-11 advantage. Back-to-back Illini points stalled the run, but OSU then put together an 8-1 run – including five-straight points to start the run – put the Buckeyes up at 24-15. UI fought off two set points, before a Luisa Schirmer kill finished of the 25-17 set win.
After an early 5-2 OSU edge, the Illini came back to tie things on a Prince kill at 6-6 in the third. The two teams went back-and-forth over the next several points, before back-to-back Ayanna Swan kills broke a 12-12 tie to give the Buckeyes the 14-12 advantage. The Illini responded with four-straight points –including back-to-back points from Cooney – to pull ahead at 16-14. Following a Bastianelli block that made it 21-17 in favor of the Orange and Blue, the teams traded points until a Cooney kill gave the Illini a 25-21 set win and evened the match at 1-1.
It was a back-and-forth start to the third until the Buckeyes used a 6-2 run to take a 15-11 lead. A kill from freshman Tyanna Omazic closed the deficit to one at 16-15, but a 4-1 run for the home team again pushed the edge to 20-16. OSU continued to hold a four-point lead until Schirmer kill sent the Buckeyes to a 25-21 set victory.
Following a side-out beginning of the fourth, the Illini broke a 6-6 tie with a 6-2 run to build a 12-8 advantage, capped by a Bastianelli and Poulter block. Illinois continued to hold the lead as four-unanswered points pushed the advantage to six as an ace from freshman Morgan O'Brien mad it 18-12 in favor of the visitors. OSU responded with its own 7-2 run to pull within a point at 20-19, but three-straight Illini points stalled the run. After a Bastianelli kill gave the Illini set point at 24-20, the Buckeyes killed off two set points, before a Poulter dump ended the set in favor of the Illini at 25-22.
For more Fighting Illini volleyball news, stay tuned to FightingIllini.com and follow @IlliniVBall on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook.
