For the second game in a row, the Illinois volleyball took the first two sets of the match. This time, though, the Illini didn’t let their opponent back into the game, rolling to a 3-1 road victory against No. 16 Wisconsin.

Execution has been a word that has summed up the Illini’s season, more or less, and Illinois did just that in Madison, Wis., on Sunday, winning by scores of 25-22, 28-26, 10-25, 25-22. The win evens the Illini’s record in conference play at 5-5, but the team still sits at 9-11 overall. The Badgers fall to 6-4 in the Big Ten and 17-5 overall.

“It was a good win against a very good team in a tough environment to play,” head coach Kevin Hambly said. “I thought we were tough. … It was an important victory for us.”

The victory comes just four days after from a collapse at Northwestern in which Illinois took the first two sets of the match only to give away the next three. After taking the first two sets against Wisconsin, the Illini came out of the break struggling to score.

“We’re not afraid to mention what happened against Northwestern,” sophomore setter Alexis Viliunas said of the team’s mindset going into the fourth set at Wisconsin. “We talked about protecting each other, protecting our school and just protecting Illinois volleyball. We went into the fourth set with a fighting mentality, and I think it really helped us.”

Viliunas and junior outside hitter Liz McMahon stood out for the Illini. McMahon led the match with 20 kills on 40 attempts to hit .375 on the day. She has had back-to-back games with at least 20 kills, as she reached 21 against Northwestern. Viliunas turned in a complete performance, registering 44 assists and a career-high 20 digs to go along with three kills.

“(Viliunas) had one of her better matches for sure,” Hambly said. “She did a nice job of executing the game plan, attacking people the way we wanted to. I thought she played physical at the net, often blocking and attacking. She had 20 digs, and I thought she made some nice plays.”

Despite besting the Illini in kills (59-57), attempts (174-162) and hitting percentage (.218-.204), the Badgers could not crack the Illinois defense in key moments. Viliunas and Hambly also said the team’s serve-pass performance also contributed to the win.

“We served really aggressively, we were able to get them out of system,” Viliunas said. “Our passing was good, I was able to set the ball around and get it to whoever I wanted to, so I was happy with it, and I think everyone else was, too.”

The midway point of conference play also marks a change in the schedule for Illinois. After beginning the season with games strictly on the weekends, the Illini finished their first of four weeks with a midweek match. While Hambly and Viliunas said the team was indifferent to the change, the gap in between matches allows Illinois to prepare one match at a time. With more time to prepare, the Illini may finally be able to win consecutive matches and get back to .500 for the first time since early September in the team’s bid for a NCAA tournament berth.

Blake can be reached at [email protected].