SEATTLE – The Illinois volleyball put together another gutsy performance in a dramatic five-set (25-18, 25-17, 13-25, 24-26, 15-10) victory over Hawaii in the opening round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament on Friday (December 1) night in Alaska Airlines Arena.
With the win, the Illini (22-10) advance to the second round and will face host and No. 8 seed Washington (25-7) at 9 p.m. CT on Saturday (December 2) night. The Huskies swept LIU Brooklyn in their first round match on Friday.
Sophomore Jacqueline Quade led the Illini with 15 kills, while redshirt-sophomore Beth Prince and freshman Megan Cooney joined her in double figures with 10 kills each. Junior Ali Bastianelli came within one kill of a double-double with nine kills and equaled a season-high with 10 blocks.
Junior Jordyn Poulter notched her second-straight double-double and third in the last four matches with 44 assists and 23 digs. It is her 22nd career double-double and 12th of the season, while directing the Illini offense to a .228 hitting percentage – including a match-high .364 in the decisive fifth set.
Leading all players with 21 digs on the night, senior Brandi Donnelly became just the second player in Illini volleyball history to register 2,000 digs and owns 2,006 digs in her four-year career.
As a team, the Illini outblocked the Rainbow Wahine, 15 to four, with Quade and freshman Tyanna Omazic each notching five in the win.
Playing in their eighth five-setter of the season, the Illini did not panic after giving up a two-set advantage en route to earning their 13th win in the opening round of NCAA Tournament action in program history. It was a back-and-forth start that saw six tied in the first 12 points, before back-to-back Omazic points put the Illini ahead 8-6. UH quickly tied things at 8-8, but the Illini answered back with four-straight points for a 12-8 advantage and then ended the fifth with a 7-2 run as back-to-back Bastianelli kills sealed the 3-2 victory at 15-10.
After an early 4-1 deficit to the Bows in the opening set, the Illini stormed back with a 10-1 run – including seven-straight points – to take an 11-5 lead behind the block of Omazic and Prince and four Quade kills. Three-straight points from UH cut the edge to 14-10, but a Quade kill followed by back-to-back Hawaii hitting errors pushed the score to 20-12 in favor of the Orange & Blue. The Bows then closed within 22-18 on an 6-2 run, before the Illini finished off the opening set with three-straight points as a Quade kill sealed the 25-18 win.
It was all Illini to start the second as a Poulter kill gave the home team a 5-1 lead, before an Omazic and Quade block pushed the advantage to 11-6 midway through the stanza. The Bows cut the edge to 12-8, but a 9-3 run put the Illini in control with a 21-11 advantage following a Prince kill. After a 4-1 mini run from Hawaii, the Illini took the next two points to set up set point at 24-15. The visitors fought off two set points, before a kill from Cooney sent the Illini to a two-set advantage with the 25-17 victory.
Following a Donnelly ace to open the third, the Illini jumped out to a 4-1 edge, before the Bows scored the next six of seven points to pull ahead at 7-5. After a Quade kill cut the deficit to two at 11-9, UH used an 11-2 run to take a 22-11 lead. The Rainbow Wahine then took three of the last four points to the set, 25-13.
It was quick beginning for Hawaii in the fourth as the visitors used a 6-2 start to build a 10-6 advantage. The Illini battled back to close within two at 13-11 following a UH service error, but again the Bows scored the next three of four points for a 16-12 edge. Trailing by four at 18-14, the Illini fought back to knot the score at 20-20 with a 6-2 run, including four-straight points – two of which came on blocks from Bastianelli, Quade and Poulter. The two teams then traded points until Hawaii broke a 24-24 tie with back-to-back kills from McKenna Granato.
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