ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The No. 21 Illinois volleyball team battled, before falling, 3-1 (23-25, 15-25, 25-23, 18-25) to Michigan on Saturday (November 9) night in Cliff Keen Arena.
Senior Jacqueline Quade led the Illini (12-11, 7-7 B1G) offensively with 10 kills, with sophomore Mica Allison turning in nine kills and junior Megan Cooney and senior Ashlyn Fleming each posting eight kills on the night – with Fleming registering a .361 attack clip.
Redshirt-freshman Diana Brown totaled 26 assists on the night, while Fleming paced the squad with four blocks and four service aces.
Defensively, junior Morgan O'Brien notched her 17th-career 20-dig outing and sixth of the season with a match-high 21 digs.
In a closely contested opening set that saw six ties, both teams went back-and-forth - with the largest lead a 9-5 advantage for the Wolverines (17-7, 10-4) – until the home team broke a 23-23 tie with back-to-back scores to take the first, 25-23. In the second, the Illini were within 16-13 midway through the set, before UM used a 9-2 run to finish off the 25-15 decision and take a 2-0 edge in the match.
Despite the deficit, the Illini battled back in a third set that had seven ties and two lead changes. After back-to-back Fleming aces made it 20-16 in favor of the visitors, the Wolverines closed within one at 23-22, but an Allison kill stalled the rally as the Illini went on for the 25-23 set win.
In another close fourth frame, a Quade kill knotted the score at 14-14, before three-straight points gave Michigan a 17-14 advantage that they would not give up, going on for the 25-18 set win and the 3-1 victory.
The Illini next return to Huff Hall for a pair of home matches, starting off with a Friday (November 15) night date with No. 8 Penn State, before taking on Rutgers on Saturday (November 16). First serve is set for 7 p.m. CT for both matches.
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