Illini volleyball cruises past Murray State in first round of NCAA tournament

Illinois+Jocelynn+Birks+%287%29+spikes+the+ball+during+the+game+against+Murray+State+at+Huff+Hall%2C+on+Dec.5+%2C+2014.+The+Illini+won+3-0.

Illinois’ Jocelynn Birks (7) spikes the ball during the game against Murray State at Huff Hall, on Dec.5 , 2014. The Illini won 3-0.

Illinois put together a dominating performance in the first round of the NCAA tournament by only trailing for one point during the entire match.

Illinois (25-7) swept Murray State (26-6) at Huff Hall in three sets Friday, 25-20, 25-9, 25-17.

Jocelynn Birks led the Illini with 14 kills and chipped in nine digs, while Alexis Viliunas recorded a double-double with 34 assists and 10 digs.

“It took us a while to get going, especially defensively,” head coach Kevin Hambly said. “But for big chunks of that match, we played the way we wanted to.”

The Racers competed for much of the first set, with the lead never getting higher than eight points. Trailing 23-15 in the set, Murray State went on a 5-1 run to pull within 24-20, but a kill from Birks ended the set.

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While Murray State kept the first set close, the second set was no contest. Illinois opened the set on a 9-2 run and never let Murray State get close in the 25-9 decision. The Racers hit minus-.029 for the set.

The Illinois offense was hitting on all cylinders and hit .348 for the match. The seldom-used Illini middles were efficient with their chances on the day. Anna Dorn put away five kills while hitting .444, and Katie Stadick recorded seven kills on just 11 attempts.

“I think our passing was good, and when our passing is good, we can get the middles involved,” Viliunas said.

Kristen Besselsen led the Racers with 10 kills.

The Racers had just one player over 5-foot-11, and their size disadvantage showed. Illinois outblocked Murray State 9.5 to 3.0.

“We don’t come up against many teams like that in our conference,” Murray State head coach David Schwepker said. “Some things that we normally do might not work against them.”

Michelle Strizak, who added four kills, was in the rotation in place of senior Morganne Criswell. Hambly said Criswell could have played, but simply chose to keep Strizak in the lineup.

The Illini will take on Iowa State on Saturday at Huff Hall after the Cyclones swept Western Kentucky earlier in the day.

Stephen can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @steve_bourbon.