Illinois women’s volleyball (8-2) started the Lippy Invitational Friday. The women competed in Nashville against Missouri in their first match. Then, the team finished its non-conference play with a bounce-back win over Lipscomb in five sets. The team now has its best start to the season since the 2018 Final Four squad.
In the first game, the Illini recorded 55 kills and averaged a .226 hitting percentage. Graduate outside hitter Raina Terry led Illinois with 18 of the 55 kills. Junior outside hitter Averie Hernandez was close behind and added 12 of her own.
Illinois gave up a five-point lead to Missouri in the first set. Missouri went up 15-11 after trailing the entire match and took the win, 25-17.
In the second set, Illinois came out strong with a 5-0 run. Then, minutes later with junior setter Brooke Mosher serving, the Illini took a 13-9 lead. However, the Tigers did not give up and closed the gap late to make it 23-21. An attack error from Missouri concluded the second-set victory for Illinois 25-22.
With the series tied 1-1, Missouri came out strong in the third frame, which forced Illinois to use its first timeout quickly. The teams tied the set at 15 points, but eventually, Missouri pulled away. They took a 2-1 set lead with a 25-21 victory.
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Illinois was desperate for a win to take Missouri to a winner-take-all set. Behind a strong start in the fourth set with an amazing kill from Hernandez, Illinois stole the momentum. Then, Illinois pulled out a comfortable 25-20 win.
Missouri started the final set hot again, forcing Illinois to call another timeout, down 5-2. They responded well out of the break and pushed the score to 8-7. The Tigers finished strong, however, and took the final set and match with a 15-12 score.
The second competition against the home team provided more luck for the Illini. Graduate defensive specialist Christina Martinez Mundo played a key role on the defensive side, having 26 digs against Lipscomb.
This was her second straight 20-plus dig performance; she had 46 total over the weekend. This is also her 35th 20-plus kill performance of her career.
“Fifth set always teaches you a lot about our game and things that we can get better at,” Martinez Mundo said. “It wasn’t probably the prettiest, but we went out there, and we believed that we could do it and we did it.”
Illinois added another 20-kill performance from graduate outside hitter Raina Terry, having hit 23 against Lipscomb. The Ohio native’s performance tonight marked the 23rd time in her career.
The win for head coach Chris Tamas moves his win record to 139-83 during his tenure. Tamas also advanced to 2-0 all-time against Lipscomb.
“We had talked about a while for a change in our outsides in terms of positioning to put Raina back where she was last year and get more production out of the back row,” Tamas said. “Tonight, I just felt like we were just trying to play too perfect, and we made a lot of bad plays because of it.”
The game began with both teams going blow-for-blow with each other. Illinois held on to a 15-12 lead before a media break. Junior outside hitter Averie Hernandez helped push the lead for Illinois with back-to-back aces, extending this lead to five.
Lipscomb called its final timeout of the set after Illinois went on a 3-0 run that included another ace from Raina Terry. Illinois totaled nine service aces in the match, five of them coming from Terry. Illinois went on to win set one 25-17.
Set two was kept close between both teams, but a 4-0 run from Lipscomb helped give them the lead 14-11. Illinois did not go away quietly as a third ace from Terry helped knot the teams at 21. Set two would eventually land on Lipscomb as they pulled away 25-22.
The third set began with disaster for Illinois as back-to-back errors gave Lipscomb the lead 14-10. Illinois cut it down to two with a kill from freshman middle blocker Ashlyn Philpot, but a four-point lead from Lipscomb proved to be too much for Illinois.
Despite a 3-0 Illinois rally, Lipscomb held on to the lead and the set winning it 25-18. Down two sets to one, Illinois came out swinging in the fourth set with a 7-2 lead. Redshirt junior setter Brooke Mosher added a kill to help extend the lead to 14-6.
Terry’s six kills in set four helped keep the momentum on Illinois’ side and closed out the frame 25-15. The final set started with Illinois getting a 3-0 with Martinez Mundo behind the service line.
Blocks from Hernandez and redshirt sophomore middle blocker Cari Bohm helped keep the momentum for Illinois, holding on to an 8-6 lead. Lipscomb did not go away quietly as they tied the game up at nine a piece.
Terry and Philpot helped put the game away for Illinois with a pair of kills, while an attack error sealed the game for Illinois. The final score in the final set was 15-10, and Illinois won the match in five sets.
Illinois begins its conference play out West this Friday, Sept. 27 against No. 12 Oregon. They turn around and play Washington on Saturday, Sept. 28.
