EAST LANSING, Mich. – The No. 23 Illinois volleyball team put on a dominating performance – needing only 74 minutes to dispatch Michigan State in a 3-0 (25-18, 25-12, 25-16) sweep in the regular season finale on Friday (November 26) night in Jenison Field House.
The Illini finished up the 2021 regular season with a 20-11 overall record and a 12-8 mark in the Big Ten Conference, and will await their postseason fate until Sunday's NCAA Selection Show on ESPNU at 7:30 p.m. CT. Â
Junior Jessica Nunge led the Illini with 10 kills on a .292 hitting percentage and two blocks, while graduate student Megan Cooney added nine kills on a .533 hitting percentage and sophomore Raina Terry posted eight kills on a .312 attach clip to go along with a match-high four service aces.
Redshirt-junior Diana Brown handed out 30 assists as she directed the Illini to a team hitting percentage of .333, while also turning in six dig, four blocks and three aces.
Defensively, the Illini held the Spartans (11-17, 4-15 B1G) to a .067 attack clip, with senior Taylor Kuper registering a match-high 12 kills and junior Kennedy Collins totaling a match-high five blocks in the win. As a team, the Illini served up 11 aces on the night, while outblocking MSU, 7.0 to 3.0.
It was a back-and-forth start to the match as MSU held an early 5-4 advantage, before the Illini used an 8-2 run to go ahead at 12-7 following a Collins ace. Back-to-back Spartan points brought the home team to within 12-9, but a Nunge kill combined with a Brown ace stalled the rally. The two teams then traded points over the next several plays, before three-straight scores gave UI a 20-13 edge, capped by a Terry ace. MSU responded with a 5-1 run to close within 21-18, but the Illini finished off the set with four-straight points as a Brown ace sealed the 25-18 set one win.
The two teams opened the second stanza by exchanging points until the Illini, trailing by one at 4-3, broke things open with a 15-2 run to take control at 18-6. MSU slowed the UI momentum with a 5-2 run of their own to cut the deficit to 20-11, but the Illini ended the set on a 5-1 run as back-to-back blocks from Brown and Collins gave the visitors the second, 25-12.
The Illini scored the first three points of the third period en route to building a 9-3 edge following three-straight kills from Cooney, Collins and Brown. After trading points over the next several plays, back-to-back Illini points, capped by a Nunge ace, pushed the Illini advantage to 14-7. MSU then scored three of the next four points to close within five at 15-10, before four-unanswered points pushed the lead to 20-11. The home team responded with three-straight scores as an ace made it 20-14, but the Illini then sealed the 25-16 third set with a 5-2 run to take the match in three.
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