Illinois women’s volleyball won against Illinois State 3-1 in this past game at Huff Hall in Champaign. The Illini now hold a season record of 3-1, while Illinois State still has not won any games this season. Many fans came to support the Illini, with the stands filled with school spirit and pride. The crowd was decked out in orange and was ready to cheer on the team.
Illinois is led by head coach Chris Tamas while Illinois State is led by head coach Allie Matters. As a team, Illinois hit .353 in the match with 49 kills and 41 assists. The team also added 50 digs with 13 total blocks during the four-set victory.
Illinois started off strong with a solid group of starters which included, graduate middle Kennedy Collins, freshman libero Lily Barry, sophomore middle Sarah Bingham, senior outside hitter Raina Terry, graduate libero Vanessa Pan, freshman middle Cari Bohm and sophomore setter Brooke Mosher.
Set one started with Illinois taking the lead 11-4 by the first time out. During this set, Collins was on her defensive A-game blocking many of the hits made by Illinois State. In the middle of set one, Illinois State started to gain a streak of winning points. However, this did not discourage the Illini. After a quick time out, Illinois started to play more offensively which led them to win the set 25-23.
Set two opened with Pan at the service line. Illinois continued to play their very best with many blocks and hits made by the whole team. After many back and forth rallies, Illinois State eventually won the set 20-25. Set three started off on a good foot with Illinois leading. By the second time out, Illinois was already ahead 18-13. Illinois excitedly wins set three 25-18 with an ace that just tips over the net.
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Set four started with a back and forth point exchange between the two teams. The three straight kills by junior hitter Kayla Burbage gave Illinois the 19-16 advantage along with back to back blocks from Bohm and Bingham. Set four ended with Illinois winning 25-20 as Terry executed the victory with a kill.
Illinois will play against University of Illinois at Chicago this coming Tuesday at 6 p.m in Chicago. Fans can look forward to this game in hopes of the Illini bringing home another win.
