Six was the magic number for Illinois volleyball entering its Friday night match against Wichita State. Although the very first set of Illinois’ young season hadn’t gone its way, the following six were comfortable wins. Sadly, it was not just the consecutive set streak that ended against Wichita State as Illinois lost 3-2.

Friday’s meeting with the Wichita State Shockers was the second of a three match home stand for Illinois. In the home opening match against Valparaiso, senior hitter Raina Terry led the Illini in both kills (13) and aces (2) on top of placing second in digs (9) and assists (2). True freshman libero Lily Barry was also impressive, leading the team in digs (12) while limiting service errors. 

Wichita State’s harsh introduction to Illinois was swift, as on the very first serve Terry powered home an emphatic kill that set the tone for the ensuing race to 25. The lead did not immediately explode for Illinois but a series of small wins built up a 15-10 lead by the halfway point of the set. A flurry of one sided points followed but unfortunately for the Illini, they were on the receiving end of the onslaught. 

In just five rallies, Wichita State completely undid the cushion that took Illinois five times as long to build. An opposing service error stopped the bleeding just before the Illini could fall behind. Shortly after, a huge kill from Terry reinvigorated Illinois to the point where its once dead five-point advantage found new life in a 25-20 first set victory. 

While Illinois’ first set featured just about everything one could ask for on offense and defense, the second set was the complete opposite. The earliest sign of change was an immediate 3-0 lead for the Shockers who trailed for the entire first set. Illinois was able to fight back in the beginning but things quickly got out of control. 

Wichita State consistently had nearly twice as many points as Illinois, a fact that reached its ugliest when it hit double digits (21-11). Despite the Illini putting up a good fight from that point onward, outscoring the Shockers 8-4 to close the set, the hole was too deep. A 25-19 victory in favor of Wichita State evened the count.

Fans lining the walls of Huff Hall were hoping for a third set turnaround, and although Illinois held onto a couple of early leads, that hope ended up being for naught. Miscommunication, service errors and attacking errors continued to be the story for Illinois, who ultimately could not find a way to rally. Another final score of 25-19 meant the Illini would have to win out if they wanted to walk away on top. 

The response that Illinois fans had been waiting for with baited breath appeared to finally have come. An early 4-1 lead sent an energized crowd to their feet, before a 8-4 advantage and subsequent timeout from Wichita State incurred an even greater reaction. But whatever was discussed in the Shockers’ huddle worked like a charm, as they immediately exploded into a lead-grabbing 10-3 run. 

This stretch was riddled with the issues that plagued Illinois’ second and third set performances, most harrowing of which was a service error that gave Wichita State a 12-11 lead. 

Fortunately for Illinois, an aptly selected timeout from head coach Chris Tamas gave the players a moment to regroup. The Illini took the floor with a fresh mind for what was soon to be the most contested part of the entire match. 

Neither side led by more than two until the end of the set, with the climax beginning at an even 22-22 mark. It was Terry and graduate blocker Kennedy Collins who rose to the occasion for a combined three kills to live for another set (25-23). 

The relative stalemate continued into the final set and neither squad could create much separation in the opening moments. When the two squads switched sides at the midway point of the set, the entire arena stood up in support of their squad and Illinois fans had the favor returned by back-to-back blocks plus a 10-8 lead. Unfortunately, that was about it in terms of Illinois’ offense and Wichita State closed out the match on a 7-1 run.

Despite the loss Illinois had a solid showing in kills with Terry with 26, junior hitter Kayla Burbage with 13 and Collins with 9 leading the charge. Additionally, redshirt freshman blocker Cari Bohm had an impressive defensive showing and totalled eight blocks while redshirt sophomore setter Brooke Mosher had 41 assists.

“I thought we fought well when we had to,” Tamas said. “There were a couple of sets there where we just didn’t play up to our best and that’s gonna happen from time to time. We always talk about what the response is and I thought the response was pretty good. At the end there we just got caught in a bad rotation that we couldn’t get out of, you have to be able to take those as they come and try to learn from it as best you can.”

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