The season continues to crumble for the Illinois volleyball team.
The Illini lost 3-1 at Wisconsin (16-9, 4-8 Big Ten) and 3-0 at No. 10 Minnesota (19-4, 10-2) over the weekend, falling back under .500 and leaving their NCAA tournament hopes murkier than ever.At a point in the season where it needs to be surging instead of fading, Illinois (10-12, 4-8) is suffering a three-game losing streak and has won just two of its last nine matches.
Friday’s loss to Wisconsin was the first time all season the Illini have fallen to an opponent that has not been ranked at any point this year. Illinois began the game like it wanted, battling back from an early 10-3 deficit to take the first set 25-22.
But the wheels started falling off soon after. Disappointed with the play of freshman setter Alexis Viliunas, Head Coach Kevin Hambly reinserted senior Annie Luhrsen at setter five points into the second set. Hambly’s decision is surprising considering he had never before switched setters midseason and pulled Viliunas’ redshirt midway through the season in order to play her following a four-game losing streak. He said afterward that he would only go back to Luhrsen if Viliunas played extremely poorly.
“In the second set, things were going bad and I didn’t like the way (Viliunas) was setting and we got a kid that can set sitting on the bench that has lots of experience and we put (Luhrsen) out there to set and she did a good job,” Hambly said. “But then we didn’t win with her so I switched it again trying to see if we could get the win. .. So it was just trying to find the right combination to get us to get a W.”
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The change at setter did not spark Illinois as they fell behind early in the second set and at one point trailed 20-12. A late run narrowed the gap, but Wisconsin closed out a 25-20 set victory with relative ease.
With the match tied 1-1, Hambly switched back to Viliunas to start the third set. Nothing seemed to work, though, and Illinois again fell behind early, trailing 5-1 in the opening moments of the third set. This time, the Illini were able to fight back, closely contesting the Badgers attempts to grab the advantage. Despite holding a 20-17 lead late, the set slipped through Illinois’ fingers as Wisconsin stormed back to win 25-23 behind six kills and five blocks from junior right side Julie Mikaelsen.
The third set victory proved to be a turning point in the match. Wisconsin jumped out to a slim lead in the fourth set and Illinois was unable to keep pace as the Badgers pulled away in a set that the Illini never led. Down 14-8, Hambly once again changed setters, inserting Luhrsen as he grasped for anything to get his team going, but his efforts proved futile as a Luhrsen service error ended the match.
Illinois continued its losing ways Sunday at Minnesota. Following the flip-flopping at setter against Wisconsin, Hambly started Luhrsen and stuck with her the entire game against Minnesota, based on how the team was competing with her as opposed to Viliunas.
It didn’t seem to make any difference, though, as the Illini dropped the first set, struggling to get their attack on track while hitting only .069 and never leading.
Illinois’ level of play was much higher in the second set. The two teams were gridlocked through the first half of the set, but the Illini jumped out to a 17-13 lead and looked to be finding a groove. It was not to be, however, as the Golden Gophers charged back, winning five of the last six points to take the set 26-24.
The third set was also heavily contested, but Illinois was again unable to come up with big points when they mattered most. With the score tied 22-22, Minnesota won the next three points to complete the sweep — its second sweep of Illinois this season — and sent the Illini home empty handed.
“They have a great right side attack and it’s hard for a lot of people to deal with that,” Hambly said.
For Hambly, Illinois’ inability to close out sets against Minnesota was simple.
“They made plays and we didn’t make plays,” he said.
Illinois must now win five of its final eight games — four against ranked opponents — to avoid a losing record on the season, a prospect that once seemed unthinkable for team ranked No. 7 in the preseason.
Daniel can be reached at [email protected] and @danielmillermc.
