AUSTIN, Texas – The Illinois volleyball team's run in the NCAA Tournament ended on Thursday (December 9) night as the Illini suffered a 3-0 (12-25, 21-25, 17-25) setback to No. 10 seed and Big Ten Conference foe Nebraska in the NCAA Regional Semifinal in Gregory Gymnasium.
The Illini finish the 2021 season with a 22-12 overall record and a 12-8 mark in the Big Ten and made their third NCAA Regional and fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in five seasons under head coach Chris Tamas.
Junior Kennedy Collins led the Illini on the night with a team-high eight kills on a .263 hitting percentage, with classmate Jessica Nunge adding seven kills on a .269 attack clip to go along with a season-high 10 digs.
Redshirt-junior Diana Brown handed out 19 assists, while also contributing nine digs and two blocks.
Defensively, senior Taylor Kuper and sophomore Raina Terry each registered a team-high 11 digs, with Kuper also serving up a pair of aces. Junior Kyla Swanson led the Illini at the net with three stuffs, while sophomore Raina Terry and redshirt-freshman Maddie Whittington each posted two blocks.
It was a quick start to the match for the Huskers with an early 5-1 lead, but the Illini answered back with a 4-1 run to pull within 7-6 following a Nunge kill. After Nebraska then rattled off four-straight scores, the came back with three-unanswered points of their own to cut the deficit to 11-9. It was all Huskers from that point as seven-straight points started a 14-3 run to give Nebraska the 25-12 opening set.
The Illini opened the second stanza with back-to-back points en route to a 6-3 advantage on an ace from freshman Caroline Barnes. The two teams then traded points before a 4-0 run – highlighted by back-to-back Collins kills – pushed UI ahead at 12-6. The Huskers responded with six-straight points to even the score at 12-12. After a Collins kill stopped the rally, Nebraska put together a 6-2 run to take an 18-15 lead. A Husker hitting error brought the Illini within two at 19-17, but five-straight points set up set point at 24-17. Illinois showed its fight as UI fought off four-straight set points before a Nebraska kill finished off the 25-21 second set.
It was a back-and-forth start to the third as Terry and Whittington combined for a block to pull the Illini within 4-3, before back-to-back UI points tied things up at 5-5. The two teams continued to exchange points as a Collins kill on an overpass put the Illini ahead at 9-8. With the Huskers leading at 10-9, the Illini then strung together four-straight points to take a 13-10 advantage – highlighted by a pair of Kuper aces. The Huskers battled back, using an 8-1 run to propel them to an 18-14 lead. A Brown kill brought UI within 18-15, but it would be as close as they would get as Nebraska used an 8-2 run to close out the set at 25-17 and take the match, 3-0.
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