Illini Fall to No. 8 Boilermakers in Three

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Illinois volleyball team had a tough battle with No. 8 Purdue on Friday (April 2) night, falling to the Boilermakers, 3-0 (10-25, 25-27, 20-25), in Holloway Gym.

Freshman Raina Terry paced the Illini (6-11) with 11 kills, while senior Megan Cooney posted eight kills and sophomore Kyla Swanson added six kills on a .308 hitting percentage.

Redshirt-sophomore Diana Brown handed out 24 assists to go along with eight digs, while junior Taylor Kuper had a standout night with 21 digs, six assists and an ace. Swanson and sophomore Kennedy Collins turned in three blocks each to lead the Illini at the net.  

It was all Boilermakers (14-5) in the opening set as the home team raced out to a 7-0 lead to start the match, before a Cooney kill made 10-5. PU then pushed its advantage to 21-9 with an 11-4 run, before finishing off the first with four-straight points for 25-10 set one win.

After another quick start gave the Boilermakers an early 8-3 lead, a Cooney kill closed the deficit to 9-6. Using a 6-2 run, Purdue pushed its lead back to 15-8, but UI answered back with an 8-3 run – capped by four-straight points, including back-to-back blocks from Cooney, Collins and senior Emily Hollowell. Illinois closed within one at 20-19 following a Boilermaker hitting error, but four unanswered points from the home team set up set point at 24-19. The Illini then battled back with a 6-0 run on the strength of senior Kylie Bruder's serve to earn their own set point at 25-24, but three-straight PU points ended the second, 27-25, in favor of the home team.

The Illini jumped out to a 3-0 edge in the third, before the Boilermakers scored the next four points. From there, the two teams traded points until PU took a 15-11 advantage midway through the stanza. Trailing 17-12, the Illini cut the deficit to three at 19-16 on a Terry kill, but the Boilermakers answered back with back-to-back points to lead at 21-16. The Illini then responded with three-straight scores to close within 21-19 and force a Purdue timeout. Out of the break, the Boilermakers scored four of the next five points to take the third, 25-20 and the match, 3-0.  

Next Up
The Illini will wrap up the 2020-21 regular season on Saturday (April 3) with a 12:30 p.m. CT contest against the Boilermakers in Holloway Gym.

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