NORMAL, Ill. – Seniors Jacqueline Quade and Ashlyn Fleming led the offense and classmate Caroline Welsh turned in a career-high 20 digs as the No. 14 Illinois volleyball fell to UCF, 3-1 (21-25, 20-25, 25-22, 20-25) in its second match of the Redbird Classic on Saturday (September 14) morning in Redbird Arena.
Quade notched her second double-double of the season and 15th of her career with 21 kills on a .269 hitting percentage and 13 digs, while Fleming continued her strong play this weekend with 12 kills on a .375 attack clip.
Redshirt-freshman Diana Brown passed out 51 assists, while defensively Welsh led all players with 20 digs. Sophomore Taylor Kuper and freshman Alyssa Eske also reach double digits with 12 and 10 digs, respectively.
For the second-straight match freshman Rylee Hinton paced the Illini block with three stuffs in the match.
In a competitive back-and-forth match, the Knights (6-2) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the match after taking the first two sets, but the Illini continued to battle and used four-unanswered points midway through the third to build a lead that UCF would not be able to overcome to win the third, 25-22. The Knights then used a late run in the fourth to seal the 3-1 victory.
The Illini finish up action at the Redbird Classic on Saturday (September 14) night with a 7:30 p.m. CT match against No. 7 Marquette.
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