CLEVELAND – The No. 11 Illinois volleyball team swept its completion with a perfect 9-0 mark in sets on the weekend as the Illini sailed to the CSU Invitational title following a straight-sets (25-14, 25-13, 25-23) win over UC Irvine on Saturday (September 8) in Woodling Gymnasium.
The Illini move to 8-0 on the season, marking the best start since the 2011 squad opened their season with a 20-0 record on the way to an NCAA Championship runner-up finish.
Sophomore Megan Cooney collected MVP honors, with classmate Morgan O'Brien and freshman Taylor Kuper joining her on the CSU Invitational All-Tournament Team. Cooney totaled 39 kills for a 4.33 kills per set average on a .493 hitting percentage, while also tallying six blocks in the three matches. O'Brien paced the Illini defense with 48 digs for a 5.33 digs per set mark, while adding 10 assists and six service aces on the weekend. Kuper led the Illini on the baseline with seven aces to go along with 18 digs.
Cooney led the Illini offense against the Anteaters (3-6) with a match-high 15 kills on 21 attacks and no errors for a .714 hitting percentage, with junior Jacqueline Quade and redshirt-junior Beth Prince each adding seven kills in the win.
The Illini registered a .364 team hitting percentage, highlighted by a .524 clip in the second set, as senior Jordyn Poulter handed out 34 assists to go along with eight digs on the day.
O'Brien tallied a match-high 16 digs and added five of the Illini's 10 service aces on the day – setting a new career-high in the process.
Senior Ali Bastianelli led the blocking game for the Illini with seven stuffs, including two solo blocks, to help hold UCI to a .155 team attack percentage.
The Illini came out firing on all cylinders as O'Brien served up six-straight points – including a pair of aces - to open the match and lead UI to an early 9-3 advantage. UI then pushed its edge to 16-5 as a Poulter ace capped a 7-1 run, before a Quade and Bastianelli block made it 20-8 midway through the first. After UCI rolled off three-straight points to cut the lead to 21-13, the Illini finished off the opener by taking four of the last five points for the 25-14 win.
The two teams traded off points to start the second and with a one-point lead at 8-7, the Illini put together a 10-1 run started off with six-unanswered points on the server of Kuper to sprint to an 18-8 lead. The Anteaters closed within 23-13 with a 4-2 run, but back-to-back UCI errors put the Illini up 2-0 in the match with the 25-13 score in the second.
The Illini scored the first three points of the third set, but from there the Anteaters started to heat up with six-straight points to take the lead at 6-3. Following another five-point run, UCI held its biggest advantage of the set at 14-8, but the Illini responded with an 11-2 run – including five-straight scores – to retake the lead at 19-16. The Anteaters closed within one a 19-18, but with four of the next five points UI pushed the edge back to 23-19. After another UCI run to cut the lead to one at 23-22, a Bastianelli and Poulter block combined with a Prince kill gave the Illini their eighth win of the season.
After opening the season on the road for the first three weeks of the season, the Illini return for their home-opening weekend in Huff Hall as they host the Illini Classic on September 14-15. To purchase tickets or for more information, click HERE.
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