SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Illinois volleyball team show its fight with a come-from-behind five-set (23-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-21, 15-12) victory over host Missouri State in its finale of the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational in the Hammons Student Center on Saturday (September 16) afternoon.
The Illini (9-2) finished the weekend as the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational runners-up to Washington State due to set differential despite going undefeated in all three matches. Junior Jordyn Poulter and freshman Tyanna Omazic were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Sophomore Jacqueline Quade registered her second career double-double with a career-high 24 kills and came within one of her career-high with 10 digs, while Poulter notched her third double-double of the season and 13th of her career with 47 assists and a career-high 23 digs.
Joining the duo in double figures was redshirt-sophomore Beth Prince with 19 kills and Ali Bastianelli with 14 kills and nine blocks.
As a team, the Illini turned in a season-high 19.5 blocks, with a pair of freshmen impressing at the net as Megan Cooney led the way with 10 stuffs and Omazic added seven blocks.
Senior Brandi Donnelly paced the UI defense with a 25 digs – just one off her career mark – while sophomores Annika Gereau and Caroline Welsh each contributed 12 digs – with Gereau's effort setting a new career-high.
After dropping two competitive sets to start the match, the Illini came out of the locker room with some fire and used the serve of junior Blayke Hranicka to start the third with eight-straight point en route to a 10-2 lead. MSU answered back with a 10-2 run of its own to even the score at 12-12. UI sprinted ahead at 16-13 capped by a service ace from Omazic, but again the Bears fought back to knot things at 17-17. The two teams traded blows late in the period, before a Quade kill broke a 23-23 tie and Omazic served up her second ace for the 25-23 set three win.
The two teams sided out early in the fourth, before a 7-1 run gave the Illini a 12-6 edge. Quade's 20th kill of the match then moved the lead to 17-11, but the Bears responded to close with 23-20 on three-straight kills. Following a Bastianelli kill to set up set point, Poulter used a setter dump to push the match to a decisive fifth set.
In a tightly contested fifth set, neither team grabbed more than a two-point lead until the Illini strung together three-straight points, including back-to-back Quade kills for a 9-6 advantage. After MSU came back to knot things at 10-10, the Illini broke a 12-12 tie with the final three points of the match as Poulter and Omazic teamed up for the match-winning block to complete the comeback.
The Illini next open Big Ten Conference play with a four-match road swing, opening with a trip to Bloomington, Ind., to face Indiana on Wednesday (September 20) night at 6 p.m. CT in University Gym.
For more Fighting Illini volleyball news, stay tuned to FightingIllini.com and follow @IlliniVBall on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook.
