LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Illinois volleyball swept their opening match of the Cardinal Classic, downing Kent State 25-22, 25-13, 25-16. Sophomore Jacqueline Quade led the Illini with 12 kills on the afternoon and junior Ali Bastianelli added in 10 kills of her own to go with eight blocks. The victory improves the Illini to 4-0 on the season, while Kent State drops to 1-3.
The Illini spread the ball around early in the opening set with six Illini notching kills, and the team stretched the lead to eight on four different occasions. After an 8-2 run by Kent State cut the Illinois lead to 20-19, Quade added four of her six first-set kills to help the Orange and Blue end the first frame on a 5-3 run. Redshirt sophomore Beth Prince also sprinkled in four kills across an errorless six attacks in the first set.
Illinois came out fast in the second set, taking 10 of the first 13 points, including the first four points of the match. The lead ballooned to as big as 23-10, as Quade and Bastianelli combined for nine of the team's 14 kills in the set. In addition to the four kills, the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week added five of her eight blocks to pace the Illini defense.
After an early lead in the third set, Kent State tied the Illini for the first time since early in the first set, knotting the score at eight. The Orange and Blue bounced back with a 4-0 run that was spurred by an ace by sophomore Caroline Welsh and a kill from freshman Megan Cooney. From there, the Illini finished the match on a 13-8 run to take the set and match, 25-16.
Defensively, the Illini again dominated their opponent at the net, out-blocking the Flashes by a count of 12-3. For the season, the Illini hold a 54-12 advantage in blocks across their four victories, averaging 4.15 blocks per set. Individually, senior Brandi Donnelly led the Illini with 16 of the team's 44 digs, while junior Jordyn Poulter tallied five blocks to go along with her 34 assists.
Cooney made her first start for the Illini on Friday, racking up four kills and four blocks for Coach Tamas. Fellow first-year Illini Tyanna Omazic and Kylie Kuyava-Deberg each added a kill and Morgan O'Brien added her fourth service ace on the young season.
The Fighting Illini are back in action tomorrow with two matches to conclude the Cardinal Classic. The Orange and Blue begin the day with a 9:30 a.m. central time match against No. 24 Western Kentucky before rounding out the weekend against, host, Louisville at 6:30 p.m.
For more Fighting Illini volleyball news, stay tuned to FightingIllini.com and follow @IlliniVBall on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook.
