Over the last nine seasons, Illinois (12-9, 7-5) had its way with Iowa (13-11, 4-8). The Illini got the best of the Hawkeyes in 13 consecutive matches. This time, in front of a sold-out Huff Hall, the magic finally ran out.
The Hawkeyes escaped Champaign with their first road win over the Illini since 2005. It was not without drama, as Iowa needed to hold off a furious Illinois charge to take the victory and stun the crowd of over 4,300.
Illini falter early
The first set began as poorly as Illinois could have imagined. Iowa quickly silenced the crowd with a 10-1 scoring run on the backs of two prominent outside hitters.
Graduate student Chard’e Vanzandt and junior Hannah Whittingstall ripped the Illini to shreds throughout the match. Both were forces to be reckoned with, combining for 38 of the Hawkeyes’ 74 points on the day.
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Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Taylor de Boer made uncharacteristic errors, including attacking into the net on consecutive points. Set one was out of reach before it was over, and a closer set two got away from Illinois as it progressed into the later points.
The danger of dropping their fourth consecutive match in straight sets loomed over the Illini. The message from head coach Chris Tamas in the locker room was clear: They had to go back to the fundamentals heading into set three.
“It’s not like we got in there and started pounding tables and slamming desks,” Tamas said. “Just give the simple reminders: serve tough, keep the ball and play when you have to, keep the ball high off the net and go from there.”
Big mountain to climb
The adjustments showed in set three as the kills began to fall at a more consistent rate. Redshirt sophomore opposite Auburn Tomkinson and freshman outside hitter Alyssa Aguayo stood out in particular.
Tomkinson racked up six kills across sets three and four with her big left-handed swing and rejected three Hawkeye attacks. Aguayo totaled seven kills, as well as a clutch service ace to win set four in blowout fashion.
“ We felt like we had something to prove,” Tomkinson said. “I think, at least personally, I was just coming out ready to swing away and just leave everything on the court.”
After taking a competitive third set, the aforementioned fourth set was all Illinois from the jump thanks to three service aces from senior outside hitter Averie Hernandez. The Hawkeyes had such a hard time getting Hernandez off the service line that they had to call a timeout down 5-0.
Not reaching summit
The fifth set was a seesaw early, rocking back and forth until Iowa’s gravity outmatched Illinois’. Tomkinson and Aguayo had the place buzzing after their back-to-back kills tied things up at 5-5.
The momentum was quickly gone, as Vanzandt came away with back-to-back kills to put the Hawkeyes back in front. After some more up and down action, Iowa eventually pulled away, and another hot hand put an end to the match.
Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Alyssa Worden had 11 kills on the day. Her final kill from the left pen hit two Illini players and fell, ending the set at 15-10. Even with the loss, that makes two straight matches where the Illini showed some serious fight.
“They played some really good volleyball,” Tomkinson said of the Hawkeyes. “Sometimes things just go that way, but I think we’re talking about it constantly, just keeping that energy up and keeping our fight and knowing that we have the potential to do whatever we want.”
