BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Illinois volleyball team saw its four-match winning streak snapped on Wednesday as the Fighting Illini fell in four sets to Indiana at Wilkinson Hall.
With the loss, the Fighting Illini dropped to 15-14 on the year and 10-9 in Big Ten play. Indiana improved to 16-15 overall and 9-10 in league play.
Illinois came out hot to start the match, scoring the first five points before Indiana used one of its timeouts. However, a 3-0 turn favored Indiana and cut the Illini advantage to just three. Illinois saw their lead slip away following a 5-0 run with a Kennedy Collins kill snapping the rally but leaving the Orange and Blue behind 15-13. Illinois crawled within a pair after an Indiana attack error helped the Illini to trail 21-19, However Illinois was unable to regain its lead, falling 25-21 in the opening frame.
The second stanza saw 14 ties and three lead changes as the teams battled point-for-point. Late in the set, a block by Rylee Hinton and a service ace by Raina Terry gave the Illini the slight 20-18 edge, forcing the Hoosiers to burn a timeout. Terry served a second-straight ace out of the break, but back-to-back points favored Indiana leading to an Illinois timeout. The team's continued to clash back-and-forth but Indiana closed out the set on a 5-0 scoring run, taking the frame 25-23.
Looking for a spark in the third set, kills by Hinton and Terry boosted the Illini ahead 15-13, forcing the Hoosiers to use a timeout. Terry went on a terror following the break, scoring three-straight kills before Indiana used its final timeout with the Orange and Blue leading 18-13. However, Indiana charged back, stringing together a 4-0 run to cut the Illini lead to one. The Fighting Illini did not back down and after a service error put the Orange and Blue at set point, an ace by Caroline Barnes gave the Illini the 25-21 triumph in the third set.
Needing to force a fifth set, the Illini fell behind, 9-4, early after a 3-0 turn favored Indiana. Three-straight for the Illini brought the team within a pair and a block by Hinton and Terry led to an Indiana timeout. An ace by Becca Sakoda brought Illinois within a point, 15-14, but the opposition added two unanswered to build back its advantage. Diana Brown and Hinton posted a block late in the set, putting the Illini behind by just a point, 20-19, but Indiana scored back-to-back kills before Illinois used a timeout. The Hoosiers scored a pair to earn match point and despite Terry keeping the Illini hopes alive, the squad dropped the final set 25-20.
Terry and Brown tallied double-doubles during the match. Terry recorded a team-high 13 kills and 13 digs. Brown tallied 36 assists and 10 digs. The effort marked the duos 14th and 53rd career double-double, respectively. Defensively, Hinton logged six total blocks including one solo block and five block assists.
Notes:
Starters: Kennedy Collins, Rylee Hinton, Diana Brown, Jessica Nunge, Caroline Barnes, Raina Terry and Brooke Mosher
The Illini moved to 74-18 against the Hoosiers with the loss
Illinois wore long sleeved blue jerseys for the eighth time this year. The team is 4-4 when wearing those.
Attendance was called at 1,073.
