LINCOLN, Neb. – The Illinois volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (21-25, 15-25, 19-25) decision to No. 9 Nebraska in the Devaney Center on Saturday (October 16).
Junior Kennedy Collins and sophomore Raina Terry led the way with seven kills each, with Collins boasting a .385 hitting percentage to go along with four blocks on the night.
Redshirt-junior Diana Brown registered her 33rd career double-double and team-leading ninth of the season with 26 assists and a team-leading 10 digs, while senior Taylor Kuper added nine digs.
As a team, the Illini (12-7, 4-4 B1G) outblocked their opponent for the third-straight match, totaling nine stuffs to the Huskers' five, with junior Kyla Swanson pacing the team with five blocks in the match.
The Huskers jumped out to a 9-3 advantage to open the match and continued to lead at 11-5 before the Illini used a 5-2 run – including a trio of blocks – to close within 13-10. After trading scores over the next four points, Nebraska went on a 5-1 run of its own as a Husker ace gave the home team a 20-13 edge. Out of an Illini timeout, the two teams exchanged scores until three-straight points brought UI within 23-19 following a Collins solo stuff. After both teams exchanged service errors and a Jessica Nunge kill fought off the second Husker set point, another Illini service error then sent the home team to the 25-21 set one win.
After trading kills to start the second, the Huskers scored six of the next eight points for an early 7-3 lead. A kill from graduate student Megan Cooney then made it 10-6, before three-straight Nebraska scores pushed the advantage to 13-6. The two teams then traded points until a Husker hitting error combined with a Nunge kill brought UI within 15-10, but back-to-back Husker kills stalled the rally for a 17-10 edge for the home team. The Illini took three of the next four points to pull within 18-13, but the home team ended the set on a 7-2 run to take the second, 25-15.
Back-to-back blocks highlighted a 5-2 Illini start in the third stanza, but the Huskers came back to knot the score at 5-5, before taking a 13-7 advantage following an 8-1 run. UI responded by taking three of the next four points to cut the deficit to 14-10 on a Terry kill. After back-to-back Husker kills gave the home team a 17-11 edge, the two teams traded points until back-to-back kills from Cooney and Swanson brought UI within four at 20-16. After exchanging points, a Collins kill cut the lead to 23-19, but back-to-back Husker scores gave the home team the 25-19 set win and the 3-0 match victory.
Illinois next stays on the road for a midweek matchup against Northwestern on Wednesday (October 20) at 7 p.m. CT, before returning to Huff Hall to face Michigan on Saturday (October 23) at 3 p.m. CT.
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