UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Senior Megan Cooney had a career night as the Illinois volleyball team dropped a hard-fought match, 3-1 (20-25, 25-17, 20-25, 20-25), to No. 9 Penn State on Friday (Feb. 5) night in Rec Hall.
Cooney turned in a match-high and career-high 20 kills on a .289 hitting percentage, while also reaching her 1,000th career kill on her 13th of the match. The Topeka, Kansas native added five digs and two blocks on the night.
Freshman Raina Terry added eight kills on a .350 attack clip and a career-high three service aces.
Redshirt-sophomore Diana Brown registered her second double-double of the season with team-highs of 24 assists and 15 digs, with senior Kylie Bruder handing out 15 assists as the duo led the Illini (2-3) to a .268 hitting percentage.
Defensively, junior Taylor Kuper also tallied 15 digs, with sophomore Kennedy Collins leading the team with four blocks and classmate Rylee Hinton adding three in the match.
In their season opener after missing the first two weeks of the season to postponements, Penn State (1-0) scored the first five points of the match en route to an 11-2 lead in the first set. The Illini, behind a strong service game, pulled with 13-10 on a 7-2 run and continued to stay within striking distance as a Terry kill on a PSU overpass closed the deficit to two at 19-17. Back-to-back then scores for the home team stalled the UI rally, but a Collins kill made it 23-20, but a pair Illini errors gave the Nittany Lions the first set, 25-20.
It was a different story in the second set as the Illini used the momentum gained from the end of the opening stanza to grab an early 8-4 edge following a Hinton and Terry block. After an ace brought PSU to within 10-8, the set stayed close until back-to-back points on a Terry kill and a block from Collins and redshirt-sophomore Bruna Vrankovic put the Illini ahead at 16-12. A mini 4-1 run from PSU then cut the advantage to one at 17-16 to force an UI timeout. Out of the break, the Illini scored six unanswered points as they finished the set on a 7-1 run to take the second, 25-17 and even the match.
In the tightest set of the contest, neither team had a lead greater than three until a Penn State service gave the home team a 15-11 lead midway through the third. The Illini fought back – with Cooney registering her 1,000th career at 15-12 – and cut the score to 17-15 on a Terry kill, but the Nittany Lions converted the next three points for a 20-15 advantage. A Cooney kill brought UI within 21-18, but PSU took the set on a 4-2 run for the 25-20 score in set three.
In another close start with ties at 7-7, 9-9, 10-10, 13-13 and 14-14, the Nittany Lions strung together three-straight points to take a 17-14 advantage, but back-to-back Terry kills slowed the home team's momentum, before a PSU ball handling error again brought UI within one at 20-19. It was be as close as the Illini would get as the Nittany Lions scored five of the final six points for the 25-20 set four victory and the 3-1 match win.
Next Up
Illinois will take on Penn State for a second of two matches with a 5:30 p.m. CT contest on Saturday (Feb. 6) on BTN+ (subscription needed).
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