WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Behind a complete team effort, the Illinois volleyball team battled back to take down No. 8 Purdue in a five-set (15-25, 25-21, 18-25, 27-25, 15-11), come-from-behind victory in its regular season finale on Saturday (April 3) afternoon in Holloway Gym.
With the win, the Illini close out the 2020-21 season with a 7-11.
Redshirt-sophomore Bruna Vrankovic had an impressive day with career-highs of 23 kills – on a .263 hitting percentage – and 11 digs to mark her first-career double-double, with senior Megan Cooney also notching a double-double with 14 kills and a career-high-tying 12 digs. Freshman Raina Terry joined the duo with a double-double of 17 kills and 10 digs in the win.
Redshirt-sophomore Diana Brown registered her 24th-career double-double and team-leading 10th of the season with 46 assists and 14 digs, while also adding three blocks.
Defensively, junior Taylor Kuper had another strong performance with 26 digs, with sophomore Kyla Swanson turning in a career-high six blocks at the net. Classmate Kennedy Collins also notched three blocks on the day.
With the Boilermakers leading 2-1 in the match after set wins in the first and third frames, the intensity of the match picked up in a fourth set that saw 11 ties and five lead changes. Purdue jumped out to an early 8-3 edge, but the Illini stormed back with a 10-4 run to go ahead at 13-12 on a Vrankovic kill. The set went back-and-forth from there until the Boilermakers broke a 20-20 tie with back-to-back kills, before setting up match point at 24-22. Three-straight Illini kills – including back-to-back Terry scores – pushed the visitors into the lead at 25-24 for their own set point, but Purdue tied it with a kill of its own. A service error from the home team then gave the Illini their second set point and this time UI converted as a Swanson and Brown block sent the match to a decisive fifth set with a 27-25 victory.
Continuing their momentum from the fourth, the Illini grabbed an early 6-2 lead in the fifth set capped by a Cooney ace, before a Vrankovic kill combined with back-to-back Boilermaker hitting errors pushed the advantage to 11-4. The home team then used a 5-2 run to close within 13-9, but a Vrankovic kill stalled the rally and set up match point. After a pair of Purdue scores, Cooney closed out the 15-11 set and 3-2 match win with her 14th kill.
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