GREELEY, Colo. – In another five-set battle, the No. 12 Illinois volleyball team showed its grit as the Illini wrapped up weekend play with a 3-2 victory (23-25, 25-23, 25-19, 20-25, 15-12) over Northern Colorado in Bank of Colorado Arena on Saturday (August 25) night.
Junior Jacqueline Quade turned in a match-high 22 kills, 14 digs and a career-high four aces for her first double-double of the season and fifth of her career, while sophomore Megan Cooney had a career-high 19 kills. Senior Ali Bastianelli joined the duo in double figures with 11 kills on a .556 hitting percentage and added four blocks.
Senior Jordyn Poulter notched her second-straight double-double and 25th of her career with 58 assists and 11 digs, while sophomore Morgan O'Brien led all players with 23 digs.
As a team, the Illini totaled nine blocks, with senior Blayke Hranicka totaling five to pace the team.
It was a fight from the beginning as neither team grabbed more than a two-point lead in the opening set until the Bears (1-1) used a 7-2 run midway through the period to take a 16-11 edge. Three-straight points closed the gap to 17-15, but UNC responded with back-to-back points to stall the Illini rally. With the Bears leading 21-16, the Illini came all the way back to tie the score at 23-23 on a 7-2 run, but an ace and block for UNC gave the home team a 1-0 advantage in the match.
The Illini bounced back in the second set as an Ashlyn Fleming kill on an overpass put the visitors up early, 8-5. After UNC knotted the score at 10-10, the Illini used three Cooney kills and a pair of aces in an 8-3 run to build an 18-13 advantage. The Illini continued to lead at 21-16 as a kill from freshman Taylor Kuper in the back row, but the Bears used a 7-2 run of their own to knot things at 23-23. Cooney then responded with a kill, before a UNC ball hitting error gave the Illini the 25-23 set win to tie the match.
In a back-and-forth start to the third, the Illini build a pair of four-point leads at 6-2 and 13-9, but the Bears answered back both times. With the set knotted at 13-13, the Illini sprinted ahead on a 5-1 run, capped by a Quade kill for the 18-14 edge. UNC closed within three at 21-18, but UI finished off the period by taking the next four of five points.
The fourth set proved to be another tight set with the teams trading points until UNC broke a 16-16 tie with back-to-back points. The home team held onto its two-point edge, before five-straight points put the Bears ahead 24-18. UI fought off a pair of set points, but UNC pushed the match to a fifth set with 25-20 win.
UNC came out firing in the final period, scoring the first five points of the set. Down, but not out, the Illini battled back to within one at 7-6 on a Quade kill. A Bear block put the home team up 11-8, but the Illini came storming back with a 7-1 run – including six-unanswered points - on the strength of the Poulter serve to earn the second-straight five-set victory for the Orange and Blue.
The Illini continue nonconference tournament action next weekend in Seattle, Wash., as they face Colorado and Washington in the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge on August 31-September 1.
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