DAYTON, Ohio – No. 25 Illinois earned a 3-0 sweep over Dayton at a raucous Frericks Center on Saturday night to complete a 3-0 weekend at the Dayton Invitational. The Illini posted back-to-back sweeps for the first time this season and the first since November 2021. The Orange and Blue's final match of the weekend saw 12 ties and four lead changes.
Illinois took a slim 7-6 lead in the opening set but went a quick 3-0 run thanks to a pair of kills from Jessica Nunge to extend the lead to 10-6. The Illini were poised to pull away in the frame after taking a 14-9 lead following Raina Terry's third kill, but the Flyers would not remain grounded, going on a 6-1 run of their own to cut tie the set at 15-15. After a Dayton service error halted their run, Illinois went on a 7-0 run, featuring three kills from Nunge, to pull away for good, going on to take the set 25-17. Nunge led the way with five kills total, with Terry and Kennedy Collins chipping in three kills each. Diana Brown provided 10 helpers and Caroline Barnes added five digs.
The second set began with the home side taking what seemed to be a commanding 13-6 lead, but the Illini stormed back into the lead with a 12-2 run, with the Marengo, Ohio, native, Terry leading the charge with four kills, to take an 18-15 lead. It was a tense and wild finish to the frame, as Dayton took back the lead at 23-21, but two kills from Nunge and one from Brown helped Illinois make a 4-0 run to win the set and take a 2-0 lead in the match. Terry provided the bulk of the offense with seven kills and Brown tallied 12 assists and eight digs. Barnes also added a set-high 10 digs.
Illinois would take that momentum into the third set, jumping out to an early 3-0 lead with Terry adding two more kills to her tally. Dayton responded with a 3-0 run of their own to tie the match and both teams would trade points over large stretches of the set until Illinois went on a 3-0 run at 13-12 to take a four point lead at 16-12. The set would get tied up three more times down the stretch as the Flyers went on an 8-5 run to try and extend the match. At 21-21, Terry earned her match-high 16th kill and Collins would add her eighth kill of the match to cap a 3-0 run. Dayton would pull one back before Collins ended the contest with her ninth kill, giving Illinois the 3-0 victory.
The Illini held the Flyers to a .123 hitting percentage and held all of their opponents to a .150 swing clip or less in their three matches of the invitational.
Brown, the Columbus, Ohio, native, was named the Dayton Invitational MVP after tallying 116 assists, 21 digs, eight aces and three kills. She recorded her third double-double of the season and the 43rd of her career.
Barnes was named to the all-tournament team after amassing 44 digs to go along with 13 assists.
Terry claimed her second-straight all-tournament honor after racking up 39 kills, 20 digs and nine aces over the weekend.
The Illini are back in action on Wednesday as they head to Charleston, Ill., to take on Eastern Illinois at 7 p.m. CT.
Notes:
- Starters: Kennedy Collins, Diana Brown, Kyla Swanson, Kayla Burbage, Raina Terry, Becca Sakoda and Caroline Barnes.
- Kennedy Collins led the match with a .353 hitting clip (min. 10 attempts).
- Caroline Barnes matched a career-high 18 digs.
- Jessica Nunge matched her career high with 16 kills.
- The Illini wore long sleeve blue jerseys for the second time this season and are now 1-1 when wearing those.
- Illinois improves to 7-5 in the all-time series against the Flyers and claimed their first win in Dayton since Aug. 25, 2007.
