Illinois volleyball (10-10, 5-5) is back at .500 on top of a 21-kill performance from senior outside hitter Raina Terry. The Illini beat the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (9-10, 1-8) in five sets in New Brunswick. The victory marked a third straight win for Illinois.
Ohio native Terry had another massive performance where she had 21 kills on 58 attacks. Terry has posted 20 or more kills in the last three of four matches.
The team as a whole registered 58 kills total while tallying up 12 blocks. Graduate middle blocker Kennedy Collins and redshirt freshman middle blocker Cari Bohm both had five blocks in the match.
Fifth-year senior outside hitter Jessica Nunge had double-digit kills for the fourth time this year, putting up a season-high 17 kills. The two-headed monster of Nunge and Terry was too much for the Scarlet Knights despite taking the Illini to five sets.
Senior middle blocker Kristina Grokvic had 14 kills for the Scarlet Knights while producing 30 attacks against the Illini. Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Alissa Kinkela also put up 14 kills against Illinois while tallying up 41 attacks in the match.
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The Scarlet Knights dominated in the first set putting up seven straight points while Illinois was trying to find a rhythm in the game. Illinois hit .075 in the first set, in a 25-17 loss after a Rutgers 3-0 run.
Illinois continued its offensive woes early into the second set, falling behind 7-3. Later, an ace by Terry capped off a 5-0 run by Illinois, who ultimately won the set 25-17. This ace marked 147 in her career and moved her up to No. 5 all-time in program history.
The first five points of the fourth set all went to Rutgers but Illinois pulled back within two on the game, trailing 15-13. Illinois and Rutgers were tied up at 19 apiece, but a 3-0 run, which saw a couple of kills from Nunge, helped Illinois pull ahead 22-20. The Illini gained a set point off of a service error from the Scarlet Knights and won the set 25-22.
The fifth set started with a 4-0 run from Illinois. Terry helped push Illinois past Rutgers in the fifth set and win 15-10 on top of the overall match.
This win marked the ninth win for head coach Chris Tamas against the Scarlet Knights and 16th in program history.
Illinois volleyball returns home to Huff Hall on Wednesday at 7 p.m. to take on the Indiana Hoosiers. The match will be played on the Big Ten Network.
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