When senior Naya Crittenden prepared to face her old school, it gave her a chance to look in the rearview mirror.

She stated several times that Illinois’ match against Oregon wouldn’t be a personal crusade against a program she once called home. But she did admit that the match would be a little different, simply because she was so familiar with the opponent.

“I mean obviously I want to kill them,” Crittenden said prior to the match. “I want to beat them.  It doesn’t matter (that I played there), they’re another team that I want to beat just like all the games we’ve played in the past couple weeks. ”

The opposite hitter didn’t dive deeply into why she left Oregon. She simply said that head coach Jim Moore’s program, and all the fancy gear that comes along with it, didn’t mean anything to her because she wasn’t growing as a person or player.

When Crittenden decided to transfer, the athletic opposite hitter could have stayed on the West Coast, close to her home state of California. Instead, a visit to Illinois convinced her to pack her bags and travel thousands of miles to the Midwest.

When she returned to Matthew Knight Arena two years later, seven players on Oregon’s roster were once her teammates.

“At the beginning of the game, when we go throw slapping hands saying, ‘Good luck,’ my friends and I were poking each other as we go by. But once that game started it was like, ‘This is another team and we got to get going,’” Crittenden said.

Illinois struggled all night long, and Oregon went on to win its fifth straight match in straight-sets.

It was not the homecoming Crittenden had envisioned, but to the 6-foot-2 opposite hitter, her new home is in Champaign.

Belmont victory jumpstarts Illinois’ offense

The Illinois volleyball team is now back to .500 on the season after straight-set victories over Belmont and St. Mary’s.

Belmont began its season 6-0, but entered its match on a multiple-game losing streak just like Illinois.

Head coach Kevin Hambly said that his team needed to improve in a number of ways following its lopsided loss to Oregon.

“I think our confidence was shook before the first set,” Hambly said. “Because we lost three in a row.”

The Illini posted a 0.063 hitting percentage against the Ducks. Crittenden recorded a negative hitting percentage, which included seven errors and just five kills.

“The first set was a lot of mistakes early,” Hambly said. “We just couldn’t sustain any kind of level (of competition) after that.”

Against the Bruins the Illini were finally the aggressor. Instead of dropping the first set like they had done in the majority of matches this season, Hambly’s squad showed that it was ready to compete from the first whistle.

Illinois put Belmont in a five-point hole early, and for the rest of the match the Illini imposed their will on the Bruins.

A team hitting percentage of 0.328, and a strong defensive performance from sophomore middle blocker Ali Bastianelli — she recorded nine blocks — propelled the Illini to their first straight sets victory of the season.

Freshman Jacqueline Quade and Crittenden led the Illini on the other side of the ball with nine kills and seven kills, respectively.

Illinois went on to defeat Saint Mary’s in a similar fashion to round out its weekend at the Nike Invitational. But it was the team’s energy against Belmont that turned the tide.

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