As the season winds down, Illinois volleyball (17-9, 9-7) is looking to improve its resume for postseason play. Over the weekend, Illinois had an opportunity to improve but fell to No. 8 Purdue in straight sets.
The loss marks the second straight defeat over the weekend, as Illinois also lost to No. 4 Penn State in straight sets. Back-to-back losses at this point in the season are risky business because the team does not want to slide in the standings.
Illinois sits tied for No. 9 in the conference alongside Washington with the same Big Ten record. Illinois already played them in September, when Washington won in straight sets.
The loss against Purdue is the 46th time in school history that Illinois has fallen to its rivals to the east. Head coach Chris Tamas is now .500 against Purdue in 12 games.
Expected loss
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Throughout the season, the team has struggled against ranked opponents; this loss is no exception. The loss marks the seventh defeat this season for Illinois against ranked opponents; it is also the sixth time that the result was a sweep. While the Illini can hold their own against tough opponents, against the most fierce rivals, they often can’t stay afloat and pull out a single-set victory.
“It came down to serve and pass, but we were off the net way too many times and just gave them (Purdue) too many freebies,” Tamas said. “Give a good team freebies like that, they’re going to make you pay for it.”
For Purdue, it was a revenge game of sorts. The last time the Boilermakers faced the Illini, Illinois got the better of them in a four-set victory. That game, junior outside hitter Eva Hudson paced Purdue statistically and produced 18 kills, two blocks and seven digs.
Hudson is still the number one player in kills as she leads Ohio State’s graduate student outside hitter Emily Londot by one kill. Hudson leads this stat while also having played fewer sets than both Londot and Illinois’ graduate student outside hitter Raina Terry.
One-woman show
Terry once again paced the team statistically. Despite the loss, Purdue couldn’t slow down Illinois’ all-time kill leader. She produced a stat line like Hudson’s and had 18 kills, one block and seven digs.
The stat line showed major splits in the players’ hitting percentages. Hudson produced a hitting percentage of .333, while Terry’s showed a .250 hitting percentage.
The Ohio native still sits in third place in the Big Ten for kills, with 419 kills on the year. Terry is 26 kills below Hudson and 25 below Londot for the Big Ten kills leader.
Unfortunately, at this stage of the season, the opportunity to become the conference leader in kills might have already passed. Only four games remain on the year, and Hudson and Londot have run away with this all year long.
Another chance to get better
The upcoming schedule for Illinois has the team going up against some pretty favorable opponents. UCLA and Rutgers come to town next week, and neither team has been that successful all year.
Rutgers sits at the bottom of the conference and hasn’t won a game since September. Illinois itself has also been extremely successful as a program over Rutgers. The Illini are 16-1 all-time over the Scarlet Knights, and Tamas has never lost to them.
“Two good teams on the road — it’s going to be tough no matter where you’re at,” Tamas said. “The two we just played — they’re some of the best in the conference. You want to be a little better than we were tonight.”
UCLA has a record below .500 and sits tied with Michigan at No. 10 in the conference.
Illinois begins its final homestand this Friday, Nov. 22, against Rutgers on Big Ten Plus, with the first hit occurring at 4 p.m. You can also follow the game on the radio with 93.9 FM or 1400 AM WDWS.
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