SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Illinois volleyball team needed just over an hour on Saturday (September 16) morning to earn a straight-sets (25-15, 25-18, 25-12) victory over Tennessee State at the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational in the Hammons Student Center.
Junior Blayke Hranicka totaled a season-high 12 kills on a .550 hitting percentage for the Illini (8-2), with freshman Tyanna Omazic turning in her best offensive outing of the season with eight kills on a .538 attack clip.
For the second-straight match and the sixth contest this season, the Illini held their opponent to a sub-.100 hitting percentage at .055, with senior Brandi Donnelly just two digs off her career high with 24 in the win.
Junior Jordyn Poulter quarterbacked the Illini to a .315 team hitting percentage, including a .429 mark in the third, and tallied 35 assists as well as eight digs and a team-high three blocks.
The Illini jumped on the Tigers (4-8) from the beginning, taking the first eight of nine points – including six on the serve of sophomore Caroline Welsh - for an 8-1 lead in the opening set. With the comfortable lead, multiple Illini freshmen were able to get quality playing time as rookies Megan Cooney and Omazic led the Illini to a 25-15 first set win with four and three kills, respectively.
After both teams traded points early in the second, the Illini strung together eight-straight points – with seven coming on sophomore Jacqueline Quade's serve – for an 11-2 advantage. UI continued to hold on to its nine-point edge at 22-13, but the Tigers used a 5-1 run to battle back to 23-18. A Quade kill then set up set point, before the sophomore finished off the set herself with an ace.
A early 6-2 lead in the third turned into a 20-7 edge following a 11-2 Illini run with Hranicka contributing six kills in the stretch, before the Denver, Colo., native sent Illinois to victory with a final kill for the 25-12 set win.
The Illini next finish up action at the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational later today against host Missouri State at 1:30 p.m. CT.
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