After a tough weekend that saw the Illini (8-8, 3-3) lose two heartbreaking five-setters against top-10 teams, the team split the weekend with a win over the Maryland Terrapins (10-8, 1-5), 3-0, and a sweep loss to the No. 13 Penn State Nittany Lions (14-3, 3-3).

The Illini had already beaten The Terrapins once this year in their conference opener at Huff Hall, but taking on Maryland’s Rainelle Jones is always a tall task, as she continue to lead the nation in blocks per set. 

The first set went very well for the visiting Illini, as they battled close in the beginning before running away with the set 25-15. Senior middle blocker Kennedy Collins and sophomore outside hitter Kayla Burbage led the Illini with four kills each to take a 1-0 set lead.

With the Illini trying to pin the Terrapins against their backs, the teams fought back and forth in a close set. However, it was junior outside hitter Raina Terry who caught fire as she led the Illini to a close 25-22 win in the second set.

Looking to silence the home crowd in College Park, the Illini attempted to complete a straight sweep over the Terrapins in set three. Just like the second set, it was as close as can be as it ended with a 25-23 win for the Illini, completing the sweep.

Senior setter Diana Brown lead the Illini with assists, posting 43 assists as the Illini moved to 8-7 on the year and 3-2 in conference play. Burbage had a great night with nine kills and an impressive serving match, putting pressure on the Terrapins every time she stepped up.

“Chris (Tamas) and Eli (Sharping) got on me in practice,” Burbage said. “They (helped me) tweak my serve as we go, during the season you don’t really have time to think about stuff, so we tried to tweak stuff in practice, and I changed something yesterday pre-practice (which worked).” 

As the Illini traveled to State College, Pennsylvania to take on the No. 13 Penn State Nittany Lions, they looked to capitalize on the momentum from their sweep over the Terrapins. With the Nittany Lions coming off a heartbreaking five-set loss to the No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes on Friday, the Illini had a chance to really spoil the weekend for them.

Though the first set started as a blowout by the Nittany Lions, the Illini came back to make it interesting. Unfortunately, that comeback fell short as the Nittany Lions took set one 25-22. Collins led the way for the Illini with three kills.

The Illini looked to carry their resilient set one effort into the second set. The set was a close battle but once again, the Nittany Lions held strong in another 25-22 win to pin the Illini against their backs. 

The Illini, down 2-0 looked to attempt another incredible comeback. However, it didn’t turn out that way, as the Nittany Lions refused to let the Illini back into the match, sweeping them in straight sets with a 25-19 set three win. Mosher led the Illini with 11 kills, but the team never really got offense going.

Tamas spoke about the struggles with the offense in the loss to Penn State, but also added the successful blocks into his analysis. 

“Didn’t score enough points today, points were a little harder to come by today,” Tamas said. “They took good swings at the ball and they played a little bit better than we did. I thought our set-ups were good overall, I liked a lot of what we were doing against them.”

The Illini continue to hover at .500 on the season, as they have a short week ahead, hosting the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (7-11, 1-5) on Wednesday, Oct. 12 at Huff Hall. 

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