Illinois volleyball (14-12, 9-7) fell in four sets to No. 1 Nebraska (16-0, 25-0) on Sunday. Senior outside hitter Raina Terry led the Illini in multiple categories in the loss to the Cornhuskers.
Terry led the Illini with 20 kills against the Cornhuskers, part of a major effort to fight back against the best in the nation. Two of these kills pushed the Illini over the Cornhuskers in set three.
Defensively, redshirt freshman middle blocker Cari Bohm stepped up for the Illini, registering six blocks against the Cornhuskers. Terry was second in the category, posting three against the Cornhuskers.
Fifth-year senior outside hitter Jessica Nunge and junior outside hitter Kayla Burbage both had eight kills on the night, marking them tied for second in kills for the Illini. Junior defensive specialist Caroline Barnes led the team in digs, putting up 14 in the loss to the Cornhuskers.
Sophomore middle blocker Bekka Allick led the Cornhuskers in kills with 13 on the night. Junior outside hitters Merritt Beason and Ally Batenhouse both posted 11 kills against the Illini, enough to finish second in the match for the hosts.
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Freshman setter Bergan Reilly dominated in the assist category, with 45 for the Cornhuskers. Junior defensive specialist Lexi Rodriguez put up 16 digs for the Cornhuskers. These numbers pushed the Cornhuskers over the Illini in four sets.
The Illini suffered a slow start to the match, going down 5-1 in the opening set. Illinois called timeout while being down six against Nebraska, as it could not get much going offensively.
After being down in the match 15-5, the Illini hit their way to a five-point deficit, thanks to a 5-0 run in the middle of set one. This run, however, was not enough to help the Illini get over the hump, as set one went to the Cornhuskers 25-14.
Set two went poorly for the Illini as well, falling behind 10-3 to the Cornhuskers. Illinois never found its way back into the match as Nebraska put two aces up pushing its lead to 14-6. Nebraska won in set two 25-14 as well.
The Illini were down 2-0 heading into set three, but Nunge propelled the Illini into a 6-0 scoring run, as the Illini took a 7-4 lead. Nebraska battled back in the set, but Terry put up back-to-back kills to give the Illini the victory in set three.
Set four did not fall to Illinois as it started off the set going down 11-7. Despite Illinois’ comeback efforts, Nebraska took the final set 25-22, winning the match.
Illinois is back home at Huff Hall on Wednesday for an 8 p.m. start against Ohio State. This is the start of back-to-back home matches where Illinois will take on Ohio State and Michigan.
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