CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – In a Big Ten Conference battle, the Illinois volleyball team fell just short against No. 1 Wisconsin in a 3-1 (25-27, 20-25, 25-21, 12-25) setback on Saturday (Jan. 30) afternoon in Huff Hall. The third set win for the Illini (2-2) marked the first set the Badgers (4-0) have dropped all season.
For the third time in four matches, senior Megan Cooney led the way, pouring in a match-high 18 kills on a .366 hitting percentage, with redshirt-sophomore Bruna Vrankovic matching a career-high with 10 kills and sophomore Kennedy Collins adding eight kills on a .583 attack clip.
Sophomore Diana Brown registered her first double-double of the season with 24 assists and 12 digs, while senior Kylie Bruder contributed 11 helpers in the match.
Junior Taylor Kuper came just two assists short of her first-career double-double with a team-high 15 digs to go along with eight assists and two service aces. Sophomore Rylee Hinton led the Illini at the net with five blocks.
The Badgers came out of the gate with the first five points of the match, but the Illini quickly rebounded to pull within 7-5 on a Cooney kill. From there, UW stretched its lead to 12-6 after four unanswered points, before UI answered with a 9-3 run to tie things up at 15-15. After trading points, a Wisconsin ace pushed the visitor advantage to 20-18, but kills from Cooney and Vrankovic again evened the score at 22-22. Back-to-back Badger kills set up set point at 24-22, but the Illini rattled off the next three points to earn their own set point at 25-24. The Illini appeared to take the first set, but Wisconsin challenged the call on the court and won, resetting things at 25-25, before scoring the next two points for the 27-25 win in the opener.
Following the close set one win, the Badgers jumped out to an 11-5 advantage, before a 7-2 Illini run close the deficit to one at 13-12 after a Kuper ace and a Cooney kill. Three-straight scores from Wisconsin then stalled the UI rally as the Badgers continued to hold a four-point advantage at 20-16. The Illini would close within 20-18, but Wisconsin finished off the second by scoring three of final four points.
After a back-and-forth start to the third, a UW service error gave the home team a 10-5 lead that the Illini would continue to hold until pushing it out to 17-12 following a Bruder dump. A Brown ace gave the Illini the 20-15 edge, but the Badgers scored the next five points to knot the score at 20-20. The two teams then traded points until back-to-back Cooney kills sealed the 25-21 set three win.
Looking to continue the momentum into the fourth, the Illini grabbed an early 3-2 advantage on a Cooney kill, but after tying the score, the Badgers jumped ahead 8-4 on an UI attacking error. Hinton then pulled the Illini within at 9-7 with an ace, but UW used a 5-1 run to take a 14-8 advantage. From there, it was all Badgers as the visitors ended on a 7-1 run to take the fourth and earn the 3-1 match win.
Next Up
Illinois hits the road for a two-match series at No. 9 Penn State next weekend in University Park, Pa. The Illini and Nittany Lions will play in a Big Ten Network contest at 8 p.m. CT on Friday (Feb. 5), before a 5:30 p.m. CT match on Saturday (Feb. 6) on BTN+ (subscription needed).
For more Fighting Illini volleyball news, stay tuned to FightingIllini.com and follow @IlliniVBall on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook.
