SEATTLE – The No. 11 Illinois volleyball team started the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge off with a strong performance as the Illini swept No. 21 Colorado in three sets (25-19, 26-24, 25-21) on Friday (August 31) night at Alaska Airlines Arena on the Campus of the University of Washington.
Junior Jacqueline Quade paced the Illini (4-0) offense for the fourth-straight match, registering a match-high 13 kills on a .300 hitting percentage, while sophomore Megan Cooney and redshirt-junior Beth Prince – in her first appearance of the season – each turned in nine kills on the night.
Senior Ali Bastianelli led UI blocking effort with a match-high six stuffs, with junior Ashlyn Fleming totaling five blocks and senior Jordyn Poulter and Cooney adding four in the win.
Poulter also tallied 35 assists and seven digs, while leading the Illini to a .235 attack percentage against the Buffs (2-2).
Defensively, the Illini held Colorado to a .095 hitting percentage for the match – and did not allow CU to hit over .200 in a set. Junior Caroline Welsh notched a team-high 11 digs, while sophomore Morgan O'Brien posted nine digs.
Freshman Taylor Kuper continued her strong serving game with three aces in the win.
It was a tightly contested start to the match, but the Illini broke a 9-9 tie with a 6-1 run midway through the opening set to gain separation from CU at 15-10 on a Quade kill. Another score from the junior – this time an ace – put UI up 17-11, but the Buffs fought back with four-straight points to pull within 19-17. A Prince kill following an Illini timeout stopped the Colorado rally, before back-to-back Kuper aces and a block from Fleming and Cooney gave the Illini set point. Fleming then finished things off for the 25-19 set one win.
In a back-and-forth second period that saw 11 ties and six lead changes, the Illini held the early edge at 11-8 on a Bastianelli and Quade stuff. The Buffs battled back to take a 16-15 lead and from there neither team took more than a two-point lead. Colorado would earn the first set point at 24-23, but back-to-back kills from Cooney and Quade and a Fleming and Quade block completed the comeback to put the Illini up 2-0 in the match.
The Illini came out in the third looking to finish business and quickly jumped out to a 12-5 lead, highlighted by a Bastianelli ace sandwiched between a pair of Poulter and Fleming blocks. After a Bastianelli kill gave the Illini a 15-8 lead, the Buffs closed to within three at 21-18, but an O'Brien ace followed by a Fleming kill stopped the rally as the Illini went on for the 25-21 set three victory and the straight-sets win.
The Illini conclude the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge on Saturday (September 1) night when they take on host and No. 13 ranked Washington in Alaska Airlines Arena at 10 p.m. CT.
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