CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Behind a full team effort, the Illinois volleyball team earned their third win in the last four matches with a 3-1 (26-24, 25-19, 24-26, 26-24) victory over Michigan on Saturday (Oct. 23) afternoon in Huff Hall.

Graduate student Megan Cooney registered her fourth-career 20-kill match with a match-high 20 on a .425 hitting percentage, while adding 10 digs for her 12th-career double-double. Sophomore Raina Terry also notched a double-double – her 11th of her career – with 13 kills and 10 digs to go along with four blocks and a pair of aces. Junior Kennedy Collins had a monster game as the Zion, Ill., native turned in eight kills on a .421 attack clip, while leading the block attack with six stuffs as well as serving up a career-high four aces against the Wolverines (12-7, 5-5 B1G).

Redshirt-junior Diana Brown directed the Illini offense with 38 assists to go along with 12 digs and five blocks for her 34th-career double-double and her team-leading 10th of the season.

Senior Taylor Kuper led the Illini defense with a team-high 17 digs, while also notching nine assists in the win, with freshman Caroline Barnes earned her third-career double-digit dig outing with 10.

As a team, the Illini outblocked their foe for the fifth-straight match, 10.5 to nine, holding the Wolverines to a .185 hitting percentage.

Neither team took more than a two-point advantage in the early goings of the opening set until the Illini took a 14-11 edge on a Collins and Brown block, before an 8-2 run pushed UM ahead at 19-16. UI responded with five-straight points, including four the serve of junior Jessica Nunge. Back-to-back Wolverine points quickly tied things up as the two teams continued to trade points until the Illini broke a 24-24 tie with back-to-back kills from Collins and Nunge to take the first, 26-24.

The Illini jumped out to an early 8-3 lead following a Nunge, Collins and Brown triple block and pushed their advantage out to 11-5 on three-straight points, capped by a Collins ace. After back-to-back Wolverines points cut the lead to 14-9, the Illini came back with another three-unanswered points for a 19-7 score following a Cooney kill. Michigan then used a 5-2 run to pull within 19-14, but a 4-2 Illini run gave the home team a 23-16 lead on another Cooney kill. UM answered with three-straight scores, before back-to-back Wolverine errors gave the Illini the 25-19 set.

After trading points to start the third, the Wolverines took a 7-4 advantage, but an 8-2 run propelled the Illini to a 12-9 lead. Back-to-back Michigan scores slowed the momentum as the visitors tied things up at 15-15, before taking an 18-16 edge. Down two at 19-17, the Illini responded with three-straight scores that started a 6-2 run as a Cooney kill put the Illini on top at 23-21. The Wolverines then forced a fourth set with a 5-1 run to end the third and take the set, 26-24.

The tightest set of the match, the fourth stanza saw 15 ties and seven lead changes as neither team grabbed more than a two-point advantage until the Illini, trailing by two at 15-13, put together five-unanswered points – including back-to-back Collins aces – to take a 18-15 lead. The visitors came right back with a 4-0 run of their own to pull ahead at 19-18. After a block from Nunge and junior Kyla Swanson tied the score, the two team exchanged points over the next several plays, before a 24-24 tie was broken by a Wolverine service ace, followed by a Brown and Collins block on match point to earn a 26-24 set four win and the 3-1 match victory.

Illinois next heads east for a two-match weekend, first traveling to Piscataway, N.J., to take on Rutgers on Friday (Oct. 26) at 5:30 p.m. CT, before facing No. 14 Penn State at 3 p.m. CT in University Park, Pa.

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