Illinois volleyball was victorious on Friday night in a sweeping victory against the Hawkeyes.
Head coach Chris Tamas holds an undefeated record versus Iowa, and the Illini advance to 14-11 with the win, 9-6 in conference play. Iowa falls to 8-19, still winless against Big Ten opponents.
Leaders for the Illini in tonight’s match were senior outside hitter Raina Terry with 15 kills, fifth-year senior outside hitter Jessica Nunge with 12 and graduate middle blocker Kennedy Collins with 10. Terry and junior libero Caroline Barnes each recorded double-digit digs with the Illini allowing only 29 kills from the Hawkeyes. Illinois recorded 47 total and hit an efficient .311 in the match.
The Illini racked up a 6-0 scoring run to take an early 9-4 lead in the first set. Iowa took a timeout and responded with a 5-0 run to tie the score at 10. A kill from freshman middle blocker Cari Bohm helped the Illini to a 16-12 lead and forced Iowa’s final timeout of the set. Illinois finished out the set with a Nunge kill and a tip from Terry to win 25-20 in the first.
Terry dominated from the service line, hitting back-to-back aces to give the Illini a 10-4 advantage in the second set. Sophomore setter Brooke Mosher assisted junior outside hitter Kayla Burbage on a kill that grew the Illini lead to 15-10, and Terry terminated the ball and forced a timeout from the Hawkeyes with Illinois up by seven. Recording her fourth ace of the match, Terry scored from the service line giving the Illini a 20-12 lead after the timeout. Terry moves up in the rankings for career service aces, sitting fourth in Illinois volleyball history with 157 aces. Iowa strung together a 3-0 run, but Illinois finished the set with four straight points featuring a Bohm block to win 25-16 in the second set.
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Finishing strong in the third set, Terry and Burbage spiked the ball to find a 9-5 lead early in the third. Barnes forced a Hawkeye timeout with her service ace putting Illinois up 14-7. Consecutive kills from Nunge formed an Illini 3-0 run and double-digit lead to force an Iowa timeout. Collins took over at the service line with three aces in a row, and Bohm killed the ball at set point to finish the sweep and take the third set 25-13.
Illinois volleyball continues west to face No. 1 ranked Nebraska on Sunday afternoon. The match will be streamed on Big Ten + with the first serve at 2 p.m.
