BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Illinois volleyball opened its 2024 campaign on Friday with a sweep over Cincinnati at the Best Western Invitational.
The match served as the season opener for both squads.
Individually, Raina Terry led the way with 13 kills while hitting .310 in the match. Brooke Mosher paced the squad with 27 assists and seven aces. Defensively, Caroline Barnes and Christina Martinez Mundo tallied double-digit digs with 13 and 10, respectively.
In their collegiate debuts, Ashlyn Philpot and Laynie Smith shined. Philpot notched seven blocks and six kills. Smith amassed 11 kills accompanied with a .429 hitting percentage.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Illinois began the match on a 4-0 run, with Smith scoring a kill on three of those points. The team stretched their advantage to six before Cincinnati took a timeout with the Fighting Illini ahead, 7-1. The team continued to cruise, and three-straight aces from Mosher gave the Illini the 18-6 edge. The Orange and Blue scored the final three points of the opening set, with a Mosher and Philpot roof closing out the 25-10 triumph.
The second set began as a back-and-forth battle, but a three-point run capped off by an Averie Hernandez kill led to a Bearcat timeout with Illinois ahead, 13-10. Mosher continued to dominate from the service line, locking in her fourth ace to give the Fighting Illini the 18-13 advantage. Cincinnati fended off two set points before a kill from Terry sealed the 25-19 victory.
Mosher helped the Illini pull ahead, 10-6, with a pair of aces early in the third set. Three-straight kills, including Smith's 11th of the match, helped the Illini hold the 17-10 edge. With the sweep within reach, Cari Bohm put the match away with kill out of the middle to finish off the 25-14 third-set win.
NOTES:
- Starters: Raina Terry, Brooke Mosher, Averie Hernandez, Cari Bohm, Ashlyn Philpot, Laynie Smith, and Caroline Barnes
- The match served as the collegiate debut for Philpot and Smith.
- Hernandez, Raegen Reilly, Vivian Campbell and Christina Martinez Mundo played their first match donning the Orange and Blue.
- Terry added a pair of aces to bring her career total to 166, which ranks fourth in the Illini record books.
- The seven aces for Mosher tied her career high.
- Smith became the first true freshman donning the Orange and Blue to post double-digit kills in her collegiate debut since Jacqueline Quade recorded a squad-best 15 kills against Arkansas on Aug. 26, 2016.
- The Illini wore long-sleeved white jerseys for the first time.
- The Illinois volleyball program is now 10-3Â all-time against Cincinnati, extending the winning streak to five against the Bearcats.
- Illinois never trailed on the way to winning the first set, 25-10.
- Illinois served up six aces on the way to a third-set victory.
- The match marked the first time the program faced Cincinnati under head coach Chris Tamas.
- Attendance was called at 140.
