UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Illinois volleyball team put up a fight against Michigan State, before falling to the Spartans, 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 17-25, 27-29) in the NCAA Regional semifinals to end the Illini's postseason run on Friday (December 8) evening in Rec Hall on the campus of Penn State University.
The Illini finish the first season under head coach Chris Tamas with a 23-11 overall record, tied for fifth in the Big Ten Conference with a 12-8 mark and advanced to their eighth NCAA Regional in the last 10 years.
The Spartans improved to 24-8 and will face No. 1 seed Penn State in the University Park Regional Final on Saturday night at 7 p.m. CT.
Sophomore Jacqueline Quade paced the Illini with a match-high 16 kills on a .353 hitting percentage and came within one dig of a double-double with nine on the night, while freshman Megan Cooney notched her fourth-straight double figure kill outing with 15 on a .333 attack clip.
Junior Jordyn Poulter directed the Illini offense with 40 assists to go along with seven digs and five blocks.
As a team, the Illini outblocked the Spartans, 12 to eight, with junior Ali Bastianelli and freshman Tyanna Omazic each posting six stuffs in the setback.
In her final match in the Orange and Blue, senior libero Brandi Donnelly totaled 22 digs, her 34th career match with 20 or more digs. With the setback, the Illini will say goodbye to the Williamsville, Ill., native, who finishes her career ranked second in program history with 2,044 total digs.
It was a quick start for the Illini as back-to-back blocks from Poulter and Bastianelli put UI up 7-3, before MSU took the next five of six points to even the score at 8-8. After Omazic won a joust at the net to put the Illini ahead by two at 13-11, the Spartans rallied with an 8-2 run to pull ahead at 19-15 following back-to-back aces. The two teams traded points until back-to-back MSU attack errors cut the deficit to two at 23-21. After Holly Toliver kill made it 24-21 for the Spartans, the Illini fought off two set points before MSU finished it off with an Autumn Bailey kill at 25-23.
The Illini responded in the second as a service ace from sophomore Caroline Welsh followed by an Omazic solo block put the Orange and Blue up early, 7-2. After the Spartans closed within three at 11-8, a Poulter dump started a 6-2 run that propelled UI to an 18-10 advantage. MSU answered back with four-straight points to cut the lead to 19-16, but three-straight UI points stalled the run as a Poulter ace sandwiched between a pair of Prince kill made it 22-16 in favor of the Illini. The teams traded points until a Cooney kill that was called out was challenged by Tamas and the call was overturned to set up set point at 24-18. Cooney then finished off the 25-18 second set to even the match at 1-1 heading into the break.
It was a tight start to the third as neither team grabbed more than a two-point edge until a 4-1 mini from the Spartans put the home team ahead at 15-11. The Illini continued to fight as back-to-back points from Cooney – including teaming with Bastianelli for a block and a kill – closed the gap to 18-15. After a pair of MSU scores pushed the deficit back to 20-15, the Illini again fought back to within 20-17 on a Cooney and Omazic stuff, before the Spartans used five-unanswered points to take a 25-17 win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
In the most competitive set of the match, the Illini and the Spartans went blow-for-blow in a stanza that saw 24 ties and 15 lead changes. Throughout the set there were only four occasions with a two-point advantage, with the Illini leading at 3-1, 11-9 and 15-13, while MSU's only two-point lead came at the end at 29-27. With the scored knotted at 23-23, an MSU block gave the Spartans their first match point at 24-23, but a service error tied things up at 24-24. The Illini fought off two more match points, before a Quade kill followed by an Omazic and Poulter block gave UI their first set point at 26-25. Another service error – this time by the Illini – followed by an Orange and Blue hitting error gave the Spartans their third match point, but again the Illini battled back to a 27-27 tie. MSU then converted on its fourth match point as Bailey secured the next two points for the Spartans on a kill and a service ace.
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