Execution was yet again the driving factor behind the Illinois volleyball team’s loss to Northwestern Wednesday night.

The Illini (8-11, 4-5 Big Ten) took the first two sets over the Wildcats (13-8, 5-4) in before dropping the next three. Illinois had 26 attacking errors and four service errors in the match, which allowed Northwestern to stage a comeback.

“I thought we sustained really good volleyball in the first two sets and then we relaxed,” junior outside hitter Liz McMahon said. “They made a lot of adjustments and came out fighting after the break and I think we backed down a little bit. They executed at a high level and we didn’t. I think it just came down to execution.”

The loss to Northwestern was eerily similar to the one Illinois suffered against then-No. 4 Penn State last Friday when the team jumped out to a 2-1 lead after three sets only to see the Nittany Lions claw their way back into the match.

Illinois took the first two sets over Northwestern both by a score of 25-19. In the first and second set the Illini seemed to be on track to recording their second straight win.

From there, junior Liz McMahon said defensive lapses contributed to Illinois allowing Northwestern back into the game. The Illini lost the following three sets 19-25, 19-25, 10-15 to the wildcats to lose the match in five.

“I think our defense slipped,” McMahon said, “And when our defense slips everything kind of goes with it. We got tense at times and we don’t play well when we’re tense and anxious.”

Illinois will try to sharpen it’s execution in practice before attempting to get back to its winning ways Sunday in Madison, Wis., against No. 16 Wisconsin.

The Illini will face a Badgers team that has won two straight. Illinois head coach Kevin Hambly said the Badgers are a good team in every aspect and that they serve especially aggressively.

“They’re a really good serving team,” Hambly said. “They play really good defense and they extend rallies really well. They also have a really good young setter who can move the ball around in (freshman Lauren) Carlini who was player of the year her senior year. But I think the biggest thing is just serving and passing. They’re a good serve and pass team and that hasn’t been our strength so we’ll have to do a good job on that.”

With a loss to Northwestern weighing on the team’s mind moving forward, sophomore outside hitter Jocelynn Birks said Illinois will need to focus on keeping up momentum and continuing to execute at a high level throughout games in order to have success Sunday against Wisconsin.

“I would definitely say that we can’t back down and let teams in,” Birks said. “Especially when we have them down 2-0 and we’re doing really well. We need to learn to not let up and not stop fighting until we’re done with that last point.”

Nicholas can be reached at [email protected] and @IlliniSportsGuy.