Illinois volleyball was victorious on Friday night in a five-set match in College Park, Maryland.
Head coach Chris Tamas and the Illini remain undefeated against Maryland, picking up their 10th straight win against the Terrapins in program history and improving to 9-10 on the season with a 4-5 Big Ten record. Maryland fell to 13-8, 3-6 against conference opponents. Leading tonight for Illinois was fifth-year hitter Jessica Nunge hitting .308 with 15 kills and an ace. The Illini served nine aces in the match: three from graduate middle blocker Kennedy Collins and sophomore setter Brooke Mosher and two from graduate defensive specialist Vanessa Pan.
The Terrapins contained senior hitter Raina Terry fairly well, holding her to eight kills after back-to-back performances with over 20 kills against Rutgers (24) and Ohio State (28). Junior hitter Kayla Burbage stepped up with ten kills and two blocks, and Collins registered nine kills alongside a huge defensive performance with nine roofs.
“It’s more about consistency this time of year,” Tamas said. “Finally feel like we’re getting some better training, we have some more time between games where we’re able to train, rest and recover and it’s shown in our play.”
Illinois took the first set 25-21 as Maryland suffered a sequence of errors. Leading by five due to a 3-0 run after a tight start to the match, Nunge hit consecutive kills, growing the Illini lead to 18-12 and forcing a Maryland timeout. A solo block from Burbage supplied an eight-point lead to the Illini late in the set. The Terrapins put together a 4-0 rally and Illinois took a timeout up 22-18 before blocks from Collins and Terry sealed a 25-21 win for the Illini in the first set.
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Neither squad let up in the second set, trading points early on resulting in three lead changes and 14 ties throughout the set. Illinois came up 15-14 midway through the frame, but an error from the visitors gave Maryland a 20-19 lead. A 3-0 Terrapin streak late in the set led to a Maryland win in the second set, 25- 22.
With the match tied, Illinois found a 7-2 lead early in the third set from three successive kills hit by Terry. Maryland regrouped with a timeout, but Mosher assisted Nunge on a kill that sparked a 3-0 Illini run and forced another Terrapin timeout with Illinois up 13-7. The Illini lead jumped to 18-7 after Collins served three aces as Illinois battled out a 25-15 victory in the third set.
Maryland came back strong in the fourth, and Illinois called time down 6-3. The Illini battled back to tie the score at 11 and took the lead from a Terrapin error. A Maryland rally gave it a 17-12 lead which the Terrapins sustained to take the fourth set 25-22.
Both teams were determined to prevail in the final set and traded points until Illinois led 8-7. A kill from Burbage surged the Illini to a 3-0 run with a 12-8 lead over the Terrapins before she terminated the ball from the outside leading to set point. Collins and Terry combined on a block to clinch the 15-10 fifth-set win.
Illinois volleyball finishes its East Coast weekend with a match against Rutgers at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
