CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Despite taking the opening set, the Illinois volleyball team came up just short against No. 5 Wisconsin, falling in four (25-22, 25-20, 25-20, 17-25) on Sunday (Oct. 3) afternoon in Huff Hall.
Graduate student Megan Cooney paced the Illini (11-4, 3-1 B1G) with her 10th career double-double with team-highs of 13 kills on a .345 hitting percentage and 13 digs, with junior Jessica Nunge and sophomore Raina Terry adding 11 and 10 kills, respectively, to go along with eight digs.
Redshirt-junior Diana Brown passed out 41 assists on the day, with senior Taylor Kuper registering 11 digs.
As a team, the Illini outblocked the Badgers (11-1, 3-1 B1G), 11 to seven, with junior Kennedy Collins leading the way with six stuffs and Brown, Terry and junior Kyla Swanson adding three each.
After a Cooney kill opened the scoring, the Badgers grabbed an early 7-4 in the first, before pushing their lead to 12-6. The Illini battled back to close within two at 14-12, but three-straight Wisconsin points again pushed the visitor edge to 17-12. UI then came storming back with a 10-2 run – including seven-straight points highlighted by back-to-back Nunge aces - to pull ahead at 22-19. A Badger kill stopped the rally, but a Collins kill combined with a Swanson solo stuff gave the home team set point at 24-20. Wisconsin fought off two set points before a Terry kill gave the Illini the opening stanza, 25-22.
It was all Badgers to start the second with a 13-3 lead, but the Illini responded with a 10-3 run to cut the deficit to 16-13 midway through the period. After a Nunge kill pushed the score to 18-15, the Badgers answered back with back-to-back points for the 20-15 advantage. The Illini came right back with three of the next four points as a UW hitting error put the Illini within three at 21-18. The two teams then traded points until a Badger kill finished off the 25-20 set to knot the match at 1-1.
It was a tight start to the third until the Illini broke a 4-4 tie with three-straight scores to take an early 7-4 advantage. The Badgers responded to knot the score at 9-9, before taking a 14-11 advantage on four-unanswered points. As the Badgers continued to hold their edge, Nunge and Collins combined for a block to pull within 17-15, but Wisconsin then used a 4-1 mini run to take a 21-16 lead. Back-to-back Illini scores cut the edge to three at 21-18, but back-to-back Badger points slowed the rally at 23-18 as Wisconsin went on to take the third, 25-20.
After going back and forth to open the fourth, the Badgers broke a 4-4 tie with a 9-2 run to grab a 13-6 advantage. The two teams then traded scores over the next several points as a Badger kill pushed the visitor lead to 20-11. A Cooney kill made it 22-14, but UW answered right back as a UW kill set up match point at 24-15. The Illini would fight off two points on a Badger service error and a Nunge kill, before another Wisconsin kill gave the visitors the 25-17 set win and the 3-1 match victory.
Illinois has a quick turnaround next as its hosts Purdue in a Big Ten Network-broadcasted match on Wednesday (Oct. 6) in Huff Hall at 8 p.m. CT.
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