Illinois volleyball (8-3, 0-1) fell to No. 11 Oregon in a sweep to begin Big Ten play Friday night. The loss marks the third time Illinois has lost to Oregon in five all-time matchups. This is also the first time head coach Chris Tamas has faced Oregon in a now-yearly conference matchup.
The win for Oregon is the program’s first-ever Big Ten win and pushes their winning streak to nine games. Additionally, Illinois has now dropped back-to-back Big Ten openers. The last time Illinois won the opening Big Ten matchup was in 2022 with a 3-1 win over Maryland.
Illinois was not consistent when it came to hitting and finished the match with a sub-.100 hitting percentage. Illinois was also out-blocked by Oregon, 11-4 during the match.
Between both teams, Illinois graduate student outside hitter Raina Terry led the game in kills. The Illini star hit 16 on a .200 hitting percentage. Terry came into his game third in the conference in service aces with 27 and tallied four more to lead the game.
Despite Terry leading both teams in kills, Oregon outhit Illinois in that stat line, 40-29. Oregon managed a hit .315 percentage in the match while hitting for 12 fewer attacks.
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“We just got caught in a couple of rotations that weren’t great for us, that we knew we had to get out of in a hurry, and we didn’t,” Tamas said. “Against any of these teams, you can’t do that and so, obviously got to figure a few things out.”
The game began with both teams going back and forth until the media timeout. Oregon led 17-14 at the break but completely pulled away after a quick reset. Coming out of the break, Oregon went on a 6-1 run over Illinois, but Illinois did not go away quietly.
When the Illini faced a set point down 24-17, they fought to get themselves back in the match. It was too little too late, however, and the Ducks took set one, 25-21.
“I liked how we fought. I liked the response, even towards the end there,” Tamas said. “We just talked about how good teams don’t quit, and we kept after them. We got to take the good whenever you can.”
Set two was similar, as both teams went blow for blow with each other until Illinois pulled ahead 19-15 with Terry going on a six-point streak.
The cushion was not enough though, as Oregon went on a four-straight run before Illinois could blink. Oregon ended up taking set two 25-22 after junior outside hitter Averie Hernadez committed a service error.
The final set of the matchup was all Oregon, as they jumped out to a quick 7-1 lead. Illinois was not able to pull very close throughout the match, and the final score of set three ended 25-13. This was the lowest score for Illinois in a single set so far this season.
“In the third set, they were just feeling it from the service line. I felt we got a little bit tight, trying to play a little bit over perfect,” Tamas said. “We just kind of shanked a few, and then they got a lead, and they just kept on us.”
Illinois moves on in the Big Ten by staying on the West Coast and facing Washington this Saturday, Sept. 28, at 9 p.m. CT.
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