It was before a storm of orange-clad fans that one of the greatest streaks in sports was broken. Illinois’ volleyball team, currently ranked No. 16 in the country, became the first team to beat the USC Trojans in more than two years, a win that broke a streak of 52 straight wins.

A buzz around campus had been steadily growing over the past two weeks, and even with UCLA in town for a football game, Huff Hall was the Mecca of the Illinois sports world for the night. Nearly 3,000 people attended the match against USC; almost all of them watched the Trojans warm up in disbelief.

They looked like a machine, 6’6” girls spiking down the ball as if their arms were sledgehammers. Illinois head coach Don Hardin summed up the Trojan team best on Friday night.

“When they get the ball in system, they terminate,” Hardin said.

It had been stressed to the Illini in meetings that at some point, USC would terminate; they haven’t dominated the volleyball world without reason.

But Illinois would have to take the Trojans’ best punch, shake it off and return fire. The Illini found through watching film that they were vulnerable in their passing game, so getting a good serve off and forcing USC to make tough passes and adjustments was the key.

Illinois ended the night with nine service aces and many others that forced the Trojans into returning a weak ball. The X-factor was the crowd, a group awe-inspiring enough to have Illini and Trojans alike thanking them for coming out.

“The crowd was amazing,” said USC head coach Mick Haley. “Our kids loved the crowd. I can’t tell you how much fun they were having.”

Illinois faithful that went to the morning football game endured an ugly loss, but if they were able to shake it off, they got treated to a volleyball match for the ages. Even UCLA fans couldn’t miss the opportunity to attend the match.

“My favorite team is UCLA; my second favorite is whoever USC is playing – tonight I love the Illini,” said UCLA fan Doug Goodrich.

Going into the game, fans felt as though Illinois had a chance to do something special. An Illinois volleyball team had never beaten a No. 1-ranked squad before, and the chance to do it at home against a 52-game win streak was unique.

“I had never been to a volleyball game before, but I came with my friend because I heard the games were fun,” said Katherine Becker, freshman in LAS. “That game was awesome; I feel bad for people I know that didn’t go.”

The Illini came out strong and took the first match, putting the Trojans back on their heels, proving that this was going to be a fight. Between the first and second games though, Haley changed up the USC block to neutralize Illinois’ strong outside hitters, and the block was more than effective – the Illini finished with a hitting percentage of .126.

Illinois found a spark plug off the bench to help fight against the USC block – freshman Vicki Brown. Brown, a super-athletic freshman with a high-flying aerial assault, was able to jump high enough to hit the ball over the block. She finished with seven crucial kills.

In the second game, the Trojans muscled their way past the Illini; their All-Americans woke up. Emily Adams and Keao Burdine put the Trojans on their backs and stared down their opponent. The third game was domination, the same kind that Illinois had talked about; it was bound to happen at least once. The third game ended 30-12.

“A lot of those players hadn’t lost a game before,” Hardin said. “We said at the break when it was tied 1-1 that all we needed to do was get one of the next two and bring them to a rally game. A rally score game, with this gym and these fans – all we would have to do is jump out early.”

Somehow, after the lopsided third game, Illinois was able to find momentum and fight for the fourth game. Coach Hardin got his wish; they were now in a rally score match.

“We weren’t playing game-by-game, we were playing for every point,” said senior setter Erin Virtue. “Our defense was amazing tonight and really kept us in it. We just had a great attitude.”

With the Huff Hall crowd whipped into a frenzy, Illinois was able to take point after point, inching ever closer to the 15 that would give them the upset. With a 14-8 lead and the 3,000 fans shaking the rafters, outside hitter Rachel VanMeter, neutralized for most of the match, put all her frustration into one hit that streaked to the floorboards, sealing the victory and ending the Trojan streak.

“I can’t even explain to you what we feel right now. Wow,” Virtue said.

During the traditional post-win “Hail to the Orange” rendition, one could almost see the bull’s-eyes moving from the backs of the Trojans to those of the Illini. After a win like that, things change.

“Illinois will find out real quick how hard it is to dominate and do this every day,” Haley said. “They are going to be targeted.”