A midweek road trip to Minneapolis proved unkind for Illinois (12-8, 7-4). The Wednesday night bout against the Minnesota Golden Gophers (17-5, 7-4) swung in the complete opposite direction than the Illini might’ve hoped.
Following back-to-back straight set losses to No. 10 Purdue and Michigan at home, Illinois tried to get back on its feet in Maturi Pavilion. It was looking like the Illini would near the end of the match, but the Golden Gophers had other plans.
Offense stifled
After a very close first set, the wheels fell off the bus for Illinois. Meanwhile, the Gophers scored in almost every way possible, whether it was kills, opposing errors or aces.
Senior outside hitter Julia Hanson was attacking from everywhere, and each swing from the outside pen found its way down. Each ball went through the block, off the block and down or found a crease in the defense.
Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!
A 13-1 run catapulted the Gophers to a massive 11-point advantage. Senior outside hitter Averie Hernandez mustered the only Illini kill in the middle of the run. It did nothing to stop the bleeding. Hernandez finished the match with five kills.
Out of sync
It was very difficult for sophomore outside hitter Taylor de Boer to get going after getting seven kills in the first set. Opportunities fell by the wayside with every serve, and she only got six kills the rest of the night.
Everyone wearing a blue jersey suffered from similar struggles in that set. When chances arose, Minnesota repeatedly rejected attacks at the net.
In addition, the blocking was nowhere to be found, further hurting an already out-of-sorts Illini unit. They committed 20 errors during the match as well, a majority of which came in set two.
Big charge to no avail
The third set began similarly to the second, with Minnesota jumping all over Illinois. In addition to Hanson’s strong play all night, freshman middle blocker Jordan Taylor came through with explosive swings of her own.
The lead grew to 20-10 as a result of a wild dig from Hanson. The ball hit her right foot and somehow stayed off the floor, subsequently leading to her blocking de Boer’s next attack. It seemed the Illini were dead in the water, but a rare service error from Hanson nearly flipped the script entirely.
This sequence quickly became the Auburn Tomkinson show. The redshirt sophomore outside hitter registered a kill and two block assists to suddenly cut the lead to five.
Tomkinson then took advantage of an overpass, while freshman libero Taryn Kirsch induced whiffs from the Gophers, recording two crucial service aces. All of a sudden, a 10-point Gopher lead evaporated, and the set was tied at 21.
However, the comeback was all for naught. Hanson spiked any hopes of a fourth set into the ground with her 23rd kill, ending the match in straight sets.
Main takeaway
Minnesota did pull itself together after a 10-point lead slipped out of its grasp. However, the 11-1 run at the end of set three from Illinois is an encouraging sign. In a match where they were largely dominated, the Illini never gave up hope and pushed hard for another set.
It didn’t go their way this time, but a charge like that one can serve as fuel for the team. It can swing the momentum of more sets in future matches until the cards fall in their favor.
