NORMAL, Ill. – Senior Jacqueline Quade paced the offense while redshirt-freshman Diana Brown registered her fourth-career double-double as the No. 14 Illinois volleyball team suffered a 3-1 (16-25, 25-21, 21-25, 21-25) setback to Illinois State to open the Redbird Classic presented by The Edge Apartments on Friday (September 13) night in Redbird Arena.
For the fourth match this season, Quade led all players with 17 kills on the night, while junior Megan Cooney joined her in double figures with 10 kills. Senior Ashlyn Fleming added nine kills on a .500 hitting percentage to go along with five blocks.
Brown totaled 25 assists and was the co-leader on the team with 14 digs for her fourth double-double of the season, while sophomore Mica Allison also chipped in nine helpers and five blocks in the match.
Defensively, senior Caroline Welsh also notched 14 digs to lead the Illini (2-3), while UI as a team outblocked the Redbirds, 13 to five, with freshman Rylee Hinton posting a career-high eight blocks.
After a strong start from ISU (6-1) in front of over 3,800 fans – including both Illini and Redbird contingents – to take the opening set, 25-16, the Illini bounced back to take the second 25-21, as Hinton and Allison combined for nine blocks.
The Redbirds grabbed early leads in both the third and fourth sets, with the Illini battling back in both periods to close the gap before ISU finished off the match with back-to-back 25-21 set wins.
The Illini continue play at the Redbird Classic with two matches on Saturday (September 14), first taking on UCF at 10 a.m. CT in Redbird Arena, before facing No. 7 Marquette at 7:30 p.m.
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