CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Illinois volleyball team sent its seniors off in style with a 3-1 (25-14, 25-22, 23-25, 25-16) win over Indiana on Saturday (March 27) night in Huff Hall.
It was the fourth-straight victory for Illinois (6-10), who recognized its senior class, including Mica Allison, Kylie Bruder, Emily Hollowell, Megan Cooney and manager/volunteer technical coordinator Ryan Anton, following the match.
The Illini were led by sophomore Kennedy Collins with 12 kills on a .527 hitting percentage, with redshirt-sophomore Bruna Vrankovic also totaling 12 kills and Cooney joining the duo in double figures with 10 kills on the night.
Redshirt-sophomore Diana Brown handed out 44 assists to go along with nine digs and three blocks, while leading the Illini to a .229 team attack clip.
As a team, the Illini dominated the Hoosiers (3-15) at the net with a season-high 15.5 blocks to IU's nine. Sophomore Rylee Hinton paced the team with a career-high 10 blocks, while Collins and Cooney added five stuffs and Terry contributed four blocks in the win.
Junior Taylor Kuper turned in team-high 10 digs and equaled a career-high with five aces.
It was a back-and-forth start to the opening set until the Illini broke a 5-5 tie with a 16-6 run to take control at 21-11 following a Hinton and Cooney block. The two sides then traded points until a Collins kills won the set, 25-14.
In a more competitive second stanza that saw both teams make runs throughout the set, the Hoosiers scored the first two points, before the Illini came back with an 8-1 run to pull ahead at 9-3. IU responded with an 11-1 run of its own to propel the visitors to a 14-10 advantage. The Illini then strung together four-straight scores to knot the set at 14-14, but back-to-back IU points gave the lead back to the visitors. The Illini answered back yet again with an 8-2 run that was capped off with a Kuper ace for the 22-18 edge. The Hoosiers closed to within 23-22, but a service error combined with a Cooney and Hinton block gave the Illini a 25-22 set win.
The Hoosiers had control of the third set, getting out to a quick 6-0 lead early and continuing the hold the advantage throughout the period. The Illini closed within one at 15-14, but again the Hoosiers jumped ahead at 20-16. Illinois then put together a 6-2 run to tie things up at 22-22, but back-to-back scores gave IU set point at 24-22. The Illini would fight off one set point, before the Hoosiers finished of the third, 25-23, to extend the match.
It was all Illini in the fourth as the home team grabbed an early 5-0 advantage and never looked back. A Collins kill midway through the set pushed the edge to 12-4, before taking a 20-10 lead on a Cooney kill. Illinois then cruised to the 25-16 set win to clinch the match, 3-1.
Next Up
The Illini next head to West Lafayette, Ind., for their final two-match series of the season against No. 10 Purdue on April 2-3.
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