COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The No. 4 Illinois volleyball team put on an offensive show in a 3-0 sweep (25-18, 25-9, 25-14) of Maryland in just an hour and 12 minutes in the XFINITY Pavilion on Sunday (November 4) afternoon.
The Illini (22-3, 11-3 B1G) were paced offensively by senior Ali Bastianelli and redshirt-junior Beth Prince with 10 kills each on a .615 and .500 hitting percentage, respectfully. Junior Jacqueline Quade added nine kills on a .316 attack clip, while sophomore Megan Cooney did not commit an error with seven kills on 11 swings for a .636 hitting percentage.
As a team, the Illini posted a .468 hitting percentage, including a .458 mark in the first and a .577 clip in the second set, with senior Jordyn Poulter handing out 37 assists to go along with five blocks.
Defensively, Bastianelli led the Illini blocking contingent with six stuffs, with Prince turning in four blocks to help UI outblock the Terps (15-11, 6-8 B1G), 11 to four in the win. Freshman Taylor Kuper registered a match-high 13 digs as the Illini held UMD to a .071 hitting percentage.
The Illini jumped out to an early 4-1 lead on a Poulter and Bastianelli block, but the Terps fought back to close within one on three occasions. After an Illini service error to make it 9-8, the visitors strung together four-straight points including kills from Bastianelli and Quade bookending back-to-back Poulter and Bastianelli stuffs en route to a 7-3 run to take a 16-11 advantage. Back-to-back UI scores then pushed the edge to 20-13, before the Terps pulled within five a trio times until a block from Prince and junior Ashlyn Fleming sealed the 25-18 set one win.
It was another fast start in the second as the Illini bolted out to an 8-2 lead on seven-straight points. After a UMD service ace closed the gap to 8-4, the Illini used a 10-3 run to take command of the set at 18-7. The visitors then ran off the next seven of eight points before a Quade ace gave the Illini a 25-9 victory in the second and a 2-0 lead in the match.
In a closer beginning to the third, the Illini broke a 5-5 tie with seven-straight points for a 12-5 edge. The two teams then traded off points until a pair of Prince kills sandwiched between a Quade score made it 19-11 midway through the set. Following a 5-1 run to set up match point at 24-12, the Terps fought off a pair of points before a kill from senior Blayke Hranicka sent the Illini to the 25-14 set win and the 3-0 sweep.
Illinois returns to Huff Hall for a two-match homestand next weekend as the Illini take on Rutgers for 80's Night on Friday (November 9), before hosting No. 7 Penn State on Saturday (November 10) for IlliNOISE Night. First serve for both matches is set for 7 p.m. CT.
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