COLUMBUS, Ohio – Raina Terry registered a match-high 15 kills in the return to her home state as Illinois suffered a straight-set loss at No. 6 Ohio State Wednesday night. The Fighting Illini dropped the opening frame 25-10 before falling 25-23 in the following two sets.
With Wednesday's setback at Ohio State, Illinois moves to 9-10 on the 2022 campaign with a 4-5 mark in Big Ten play. The Buckeyes are now 12-5 overall and 8-1 in league outings.
After a Kennedy Collins kill tied the match at 1-1, Ohio State would go on a 5-0 run and never trail in the frame again. Raina Terry struck for an ace to pull the Illini within 9-5 before Illinois called for a timeout trailing 12-6. The Orange and Blue took their second timeout trailing 19-8 in the frame and would ultimately fall 25-10 in the opening set. Ohio State scorched the stat sheet, hitting .520 in the frame while Illinois was held to a -.182 efficiency.
Kayla Burbage and Kennedy Collins combined for a block to give Illinois the opening point of set two. OSU would double up the Illini at 8-4 but a 4-0 Illinois run would soon pull the Orange and Blue within one at 10-9. Ohio State pushed out to a 15-12 lead at the media timeout before Illinois called for a stop trailing 20-14. On a Diana Brown serving run, Brown's third ace of the match brought the score to 20-16. Returning from injury, Jessica Nunge struck for an ace in her first point back, bringing the score to 21-19. OSU scored the next two but Illinois followed with a 3-0 run to bring the score to 24-23 and force a Buckeye timeout. OSU would score the next point for the 25-23 set two win to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Illinois struck for the first two points of the third frame but the set would go on to see 13 ties and five lead changes before its completion. Tied at 14-14, Ohio State struck for a kill to own the lead at the media timeout. Out of the break, Collins delivered a kill to even things right back up at 15-15. Terry struck for her 13th kill of the night for a 16-15 lead in favor of the Illini. From there, Ohio State pieced together a 3-0 run and forced Illinois' first timeout of the set. That lead grew to 21-16 as the run doubled and the Illini called their second timeout. Terry struck for a kill out of the break and a couple points later, Burbage recorded an ace to pull UI within three at 22-19. Rylee Hinton followed with a solo block to make it a two-point deficit before OSU forged ahead to a 24-20 advantage. A 3-0 Illini run sparked a Buckeye timeout at 24-23 but once again Ohio State would win by the minimum in a frame.
Terry finished with 15 kills on 31 swings for a team-best .355 hitting clip. Collins and Brooke Mosher would each add six kills while Burbage chipped in three.
Diana Brown connected for 26 assists to go along with eight digs, three aces and two blocks.
Caroline Barnes finished with a match-high 13 digs. At the net, Collins, Hinton and Brown all finished with two blocks.
In her first Big Ten action of the season after being sidelined with an injury, Nunge tallied an ace in her duties as a serving specialist in the match.
The match would ultimately feature 16 ties and six lead changes as the Illini once again hung with a ranked squad but came up short of a victory.
Illinois returns home for its annual Stuff Huff event on Saturday when No. 3 Nebraska comes to town for a 6 p.m. match that will air on the Big Ten Network. The Illini are 10-5 all-time during the Stuff Huff match.
Notes:
- Starters: Kennedy Collins, Rylee Hinton, Diana Brown, Kayla Burbage, Caroline Barnes, Raina Terry and Brooke Mosher.
- In Raina Terry's return to her home state of Ohio, the junior delivered a match-high 15 kills in the three-set outing. Fellow Ohio native, Diana Brown, dished out 26 assists while adding eight digs and three aces.
- The Illini wore long sleeve blue jerseys for the fifth time this season and are now 2-3 when wearing those.
- The Illinois volleyball program is now 111-96 all-time playing a televised match, including a 30-41 record in Big Ten Network aired contests.
- The all-time series against Ohio State is now tied, 45-45, which includes an 18-21 mark when playing at Ohio State. In televised matches, Ohio State leads 8-7 in the series.
- Illinois is now 0-8 against ranked opposition this season.
- Attendance Wednesday evening was called at 2,676.
