MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Behind a complete team effort, Illinois volleyball fell just short in its upset bid against No. 5 Minnesota, falling in five sets (20-25, 25-15, 25-20, 20-25, 12-15) on Friday (March 12) night in Maturi Pavilion.
Three Illini reached double digit kills – and hit new career highs in the process – as senior Megan Cooney led all players with 21 kills to go along with 11 digs and four blocks for her third-career double-double, while freshman Raina Terry turned in her third-career double-double with 20 kills and 10 digs. Sophomore Kennedy Collins added a career-high 14 kills on a .444 hitting percentage to go along with five blocks.
Redshirt-sophomore Diana Brown had a standout night as she recorded her 19th double-double and team-leading fifth of the season with 53 assists and tied career-highs with 17 digs and five blocks.
Defensively, the Illini (2-9) totaled 90 digs to the Gophers (10-1)'s 72, with junior Taylor Kuper leading the way with a career-high 29 digs. Also turning in a career-high was sophomore Alyssa Eske, who posted 14 digs, with both Kuper and Eske each notching a pair of aces in the match.
As a team, the Illini totaled 12 blocks on the night, with sophomore Rylee Hinton stuffing a team-high six blocks.
In a tightly contested opening set, the Gophers were the first to grab an early advantage at 15-11 midway through the stanza, but three-straight Illini scores – capped by kills from Cooney and Collins – brought the visitors within one. Leading by two at 18-16, the Gophers then used a 5-1 run to pull ahead at 22-17, before finishing off the first, 25-20.
Behind the strong serving of Eske, the Illini jumped out to a 9-3 advantage early in the second, but UM responded with a 6-1 run to close within one. Leading 11-10, the Illini scored four unanswered points on a bad UM set and three-straight Terry kills to take a 15-10 edge. The Gophers got as close as 16-13, but the Illini took control with six-straight scores en route to a 9-2 run to end the second and even the match with a 25-15 set.
The Illini continued their strong start in the third with the set's first four points, before Minnesota tied things up at 6-6. From there, it was a tightly played period with neither team grabbing more than a three-point advantage until late in the set. With the Illini leading by three at 19-16 following a Hinton kill, the Gophers closed within 19-18, but back-to-back Terry kills slowed the home team's rally. The two teams traded points until the Illini finished off the third with three-straight kills from redshirt-sophomore Bruna Vrankovic, Cooney and Collins for a 25-20 set three victory and a 2-1 advantage in the match.
It was a back-and-forth start to the fourth until the Gophers broke a 5-5 tie with an 8-2 run to grab a 13-7 edge that they would not give up. A Cooney kill brought the Illini within three at 14-11, but another 8-3 run pushed the Gopher lead to 22-14. UI answered back with four-straight points and used a 6-1 run to pull within at 23-20, but back-to-back Gopher scores gave the home team the 25-20 set win and sent the match to a decisive fifth set.
In the fifth, the Illini jumped out to an early 4-1 advantage, before the Gophers battled back with a 6-1 run to take a 7-5 lead. Out of a timeout, the Illini answered with a Collins kill, before tying the score at 8-8. After the Gophers again jumped out to a two-point lead, the Illini responded with a Terry kill, followed by an ace from the freshman to send the score to its sixth tie of the set at 11-11. UM then answered back with three-straight scores, before going on to win the fifth 15-12 and the match, 3-2.
Next Up
The Illini wrap up their two-match series with No. 5 Minnesota on Saturday (March 13) at 5 p.m. CT.
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