Illinois volleyball (5-6, 0-1) played against Indiana (11-3, 1-0) in Bloomington, Indiana on Wednesday for its Big Ten opener, losing a four-set battle.
The Illini are led by head coach Chris Tamas while the Hoosiers are led by head coach Steve Aird.
Graduate middle blocker Kennedy Collins, freshman libero Lily Barry, junior outside hitter Kayla Burbage, junior libero Caroline Barnes, freshman middle blocker Cari Bohm, senior outside hitter Raina Terry and sophomore setter Brooke Mosher were the starters for the opening set of the game.
Illinois started strong by earning the first point of the set on a kill by Bohm. The points were back and forth between the two teams and by the first Tamas time out, the Illini trailed the Hoosiers 6-11. The set eventually ended with Indiana winning it 25-13.
Set two started off strong, featuring an ace by Barry early in the set. Despite the Hoosiers’ ability to keep the score close, the Illini stayed ahead of them. By the media time out, Illinois was ahead with a score of 15-11. Another ace by graduate defensive specialist Vanessa Pan brought the score 17-12 for Illinois. The Illini secured the set with the match point by Mosher finishing the set at 26-24.
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With each team winning a set, tensions were high by the third set. The Illini started out in front by earning the first two points of the set. The set continued with each team going back and forth earning points until eventually the Hoosiers took the lead and won the set 17-25.
Set four started out close as Terry recorded an early ace. However, the Hoosiers went on a point streak soon after and the Illini struggled to catch up. Despite the Illini putting up a good fight, Indiana took the set, winning the match 17-25.
Despite losing to Indiana, Tamas preached his belief in the team and how he’s not going to let it discourage them.
“We kept fighting until the last point and we just gotta play better in certain spots,” Tamas said. “I thought we played a pretty nice job defensively. Keep fighting, there’s no other way in my opinion. This is hard and we gotta be able to do hard things.”
Illinois heads back home this weekend to play against Michigan State at Huff Hall in Champaign, Illinois at 1 p.m. this Sunday. Despite the loss, the team is ready to take on another Big Ten game with more energy than ever.
