CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 25 Illinois volleyball team needed just under 90 minutes to secure a 3-0 (25-11, 25-18, 25-17) sweep of Indiana on Friday (November 12) night in Huff Hall.
Sophomore Raina Terry came within one kill of a season-high as she paced the Illini (17-9, 9-6 B1G) with a match-high 20 kills on a .395 hitting percentage to go along with seven digs and a pair of service aces. It was the fourth 20-kill match of her career. Joining her in double figured was graduate student Megan Cooney with 12 kills on a .455 attack clip.
Redshirt-junior Diana Brown directed the Illini to a season-high .383 team hitting percentage as she passed out 39 assists, while adding three blocks.
On the defensive side, UI held the Hoosier (9-18, 3-12 B1G) to a .067 hitting percentage with senior Taylor Kuper recording 21 digs – her 15th career match with 20 or more digs – to go along with a team-high three aces on the night. At the net, the Illini outblocked IU, 7.0 to 4.0, with redshirt-freshman Maddie Whittington leading the way with four blocks, while junior Rylee Hinton – making her season debut – also posted three stuffs in the win. Â
After an early back-and-forth start in the opening set, the Illini took an 8-5 lead on back-to-back Terry kills, before stretching their lead to 18-7 on a 10-1 run, including eight-unanswered points, with seven coming on the serve of Terry. The two teams then traded scores until the Illini – leading 20-11 – rattled off five-straight points to end the first, 25-11.
It was the Hoosiers with a quick start in the second with a 6-2 edge, before a 6-2 run – including a 5-1 personal run from Terry – gave Illinois its first lead of the set a t 8-7. Back-to-back points then pushed the advantage to 12-9, but the Hoosiers came back by taking three of the next four points to close within 13-12. The Illini then put on the burners as an 8-0 run – highlighted by a pair of Kuper aces – gave the home team a dominating 21-12 edge. After trading the next four rallies, the Hoosiers converted four-straight points to cut the lead to 23-18, but a kill from junior Jessica Nunge combined with an IU hitting error gave the Illini the second stanza, 25-18.
Continuing its momentum into the third, the Illini built an 11-4 advantage, capped by a Whittington and Brown block. Indiana then used a 6-2 run to close within 13-10, but again the Illini responded with a 7-0 run on the strength of the Kuper serve to take a 20-10 lead. After another 6-2 run from the visitors to bring their deficit to 22-16, the Illini scored three of the final four points of the match as a Terry kill sealed the 25-17 set win and the 3-0 sweep.
Illinois next wraps up its four-match homestand on Sunday (November 14) with a 12 p.m. CT contest against No. 10 Ohio State in Huff Hall.
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