EVANSTON, Ill. – In the Fighting Illini's final regular-season match, Illinois fell to Northwestern in straight sets at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Saturday night.
The Fighting Illini close out the regular season with a 16-14 mark this year and a 11-9 record in Big Ten play. The Wildcats moved to 15-15 this season with a 9-11 league mark.
Raina Terry paced the Illini squad with 13 kills and added 10 digs for her 18th career double-double. Brooke Mosher led the way with 31 assists, while Caroline Barnes tallied a team-high 13 digs.
How it happened
Illinois trailed early in the match, falling behind, 4-1, after a run for the Wildcats. With Vanessa Pan behind the service line, the Illini came within a score, but the team trailed, 15-10, before calling for a timeout. The opposition added a pair out of the break, expanding the deficit to seven, before a Jessica Nunge kill closed out the Wildcat run. Another 3-0 turn for Northwestern put the Illini behind, 22-13, and the deficit was too much for Illinois to overcome in the opening frame, falling 25-15.
Northwestern maintained its momentum in the second set, with a 5-0 run putting Illinois behind, 8-4, early in the frame. Three straight attack errors for the Orange and Blue left the team trailing the Wildcats, 12-7, before the Illini called a timeout. The Fighting Illini continued to struggle with the team using its final timeout down, 17-9. Kayla Burbage snapped a 3-0 Northwestern run out of the break, and Illinois added a late 3-0 rally with Terry behind the service line. However, the team could not find its rhythm, dropping the set, 25-15.
The Fighting Illini found themselves behind early in the third set, with an attack error leaving the Orange and Blue squad behind, 5-1. Back-to-back kills from Nunge added to a 3-0 Illini run that put the team within a score, 6-5. The teams battled back and forth, but three straight points for Northwestern put the Illini behind, 14-10, before the squad used their first timeout of the set. The Illini continued to falter, and an attack error by the Orange and Blue led to the team's final timeout of the frame, trailing 18-12. The Fighting Illini were unable to overcome shortcomings, falling 25-16 in the final set.
Notes
- Starters: Brooke Mosher, Raina Terry, Kayla Burbage, Kennedy Collins, Jessica Nunge, Cari Bohm and Caroline Barnes
        - Illinois moved 4-1 with this lineup.
- The Illini wore long-sleeved orange jerseys, moving to 1-5 while donning those.
- The Illinois volleyball program moved to 65-32 against Northwestern all time.
- Head coach Chris Tamas owns a 9-3 mark against the Wildcats.
- In three-set matches, the Illini are 5-8.
- Barnes tallied double-digit digs for her sixth straight match.
- Collins closed out her career eighth all-time with 426 block assists and total blocks with 475.
- Attendance on Saturday night was called at 1,992.
