NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois volleyball team earned its fourth sweep of the season with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-21) victory over Missouri in its Redbird Classic opener on Friday (Sept. 17) afternoon in Redbird Arena.
Junior Kennedy Collins was dominant for the Illini (6-3) with match-highs of 13 kills – with just one error on 22 swings – on a season-best .545 hitting percentage and four blocks, with graduate student Megan Cooney joining her in double digits with 10 kills on a .350 attack clip to go along with seven digs and two blocks.
As a team, the Illini registered a season-high .368 hitting percentage with redshirt-junior Diana Brown passing out 35 assists, while adding four digs and three blocks.
Defensively, senior Taylor Kuper collected a match-high 18 digs, with her 14th dig of the match marking her 1,000 career dig as she becomes the 16th Illini to reach that milestone.
It was a back-and-forth start with six ties in the first 16 points, before back-to-back blocks from Cooney, redshirt-freshman Maddie Whittington, junior Jessica Nunge and Collins pushed the Illini ahead at 13-10. The Tigers (2-9) responded with back-to-back kills to pull within one at 13-12, but an 11-2 run – capped by a service ace from graduate student Kylie Bruder propelled Illinois to set point at 24-14. After an Illini service error, a Terry kill finished off the first, 25-15.
The Illini continued where they left off in the second stanza as a Terry ace capped a 5-1 start, before an 8-2 run on the serves of Kuper and Cooney gave UI a significant edge at 13-3. Three-straight Mizzou scores stalled the Illini momentum as a 9-5 run closed the advantage to 18-12. Out of a timeout, the two teams traded points until a Collins kill sandwiched between a pair of Nunge kills pushed the Illini lead back to 10 at 23-13. After an Illini service error, a Cooney kill, followed by a Mizzou attack error sent the Illini to a 2-0 lead in the match with the 25-14 set win.
In a tighter start to the third, the Illini held a 6-5 advantage before five unanswered points kicked off a 7-1 run for a 13-6 midway through the set. The Tigers answered back with their own 6-2 run to cut their deficit to 15-12 and forcing an Illini timeout. Out of the break, the two teams traded service errors before four-straight scores sent the Illini to a 20-13 advantage, but once again the Tigers battled back with five of the next six points to close within three at 21-18. Illinois then came out of their second timeout of the set by taking three the next four scores to set up match point at 24-19. After the Tigers fought off two points, a ball handing error gave the Illini the sweep with the 25-21 win in the third.
Illinois continues play at the Redbird Classic with a 7 p.m. CT match against host Illinois State in Redbird Arena. The match can be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription needed), with live audio on FightingIllini.com.
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