NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois volleyball team needed just 74 minutes to secure its second-straight sweep in the Redbird Classic with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-16) win over Illinois State on Friday (Sept. 17) night in Redbird Arena.
Junior Kennedy Collins had a standout outing for the Illini (7-3), turning in 10 kills on a .643 hitting percentage and a season-high eight blocks, while graduate student Megan Cooney led with a match-high 14 kills on a .400 hitting percentage to go along with six digs and three blocks.
Redshirt-junior Diana Brown handed out 35 assists as she directed the Illini offense to a season-best .375 attack clip.
Defensively, senior Taylor Kuper led the Illini with 10 digs and equaled a season-high with four service aces.
The Redbirds jumped out to an early 4-1 advantage, before the Illini bounced back with an 8-1 run to pull ahead at 9-5. The home team closed within three at 12-9, but UI broke things open with an 8-3 run to take a 20-12 lead on back-to-back ISU attack errors. The two teams then traded scores before a Cooney kill finished off the 25-16 set one win.
ISU again grabbed an early 8-5 lead to start the second and continued to hold a 12-10 advantage, but the Illini strung together six-straight points en route to a 12-1 run – on the strong serving from Terry and Kuper – to take a commanding 22-13 edge. The home team converted the next three of four points, but it would not be enough as back-to-back kills from Terry and Collins sealed the 25-16 victory in the stanza.
It was the Illini with the fast start in the third as a Collins solo block gave the visitors a 5-2 edge, before UI pushed its lead to 10-6 following an ISU service error. The Redbirds closed within one at 11-10, but the Illini put together a 7-2 run – capped by an ace from junior Jessica Nunge – to take an 18-12 advantage. The two teams traded scores before back-to-back kills from Cooney and redshirt-freshman Maddie Whittington pushed the score to 22-14. From there, the Illini sailed to victory as kills from Cooney and Nunge finished off the 25-16 set as the Illini won 3-0.
Illinois wraps up action at the Redbird Classic with a 11 a.m. CT match against North Texas in Redbird Arena.
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