No. 17 Illini Sweep Buckeyes on Pink Night
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 17 Illinois volleyball team had a triumphant return to Huff Hall following a three-match road swing, sweeping Ohio State in three sets (25-21, 26-24, 25-17) on Pink Night on Saturday (October 26).
The Illini (10-9, 5-5 B1G) were paced offensively by a pair of seniors as Jacqueline Quade turned in a match-high 13 kills on a .324 hitting percentage to go along with seven digs, while redshirt-senior Beth Prince registered her second-straight double-digit outing with 11 kills.
Redshirt-freshman Diana Brown directed the Illini to a .236 team attack clip while handing out 36 assists, while Brown, Quade and junior Morgan O’Brien each tallied two service aces in the win.
Defensively, O’Brien led with 14 digs, with sophomore Taylor Kuper adding 13 digs and freshman Kennedy Collins posting a match-high three blocks on the night.
Following a back-and-forth start to the match, the Illini broke a 13-13 tie with a 7-2 run to take a 20-15 lead in the opening set. The Buckeyes (11-11, 4-6 B1G) closed within one at 21-20, but UI closed by taking the final four of five points for the 25-21 set one win.
In the tightest set of the match that saw nine ties and three lead changes, the Illini led at 16-10 following a Prince kill, before OSU came back to take a 19-18 advantage. The Illini answered back with four-straight points for a 22-19 lead, but again the Buckeyes knotted the score at 22-22 as the two teams traded points. With the set tied at 23-23, a kill from sophomore Mica Allison combined with an OSU attack error gave the Illini the 26-24 victory in set two.
The Illini opened the third by building an 11-7 advantage on a Quade kill, before using a 7-3 run to take an 18-11 edge. From there, UI sailed to victory as a Quade kill gave the Illini the 25-17 set win and the 3-0 victory.
The Illini continues their homestand next weekend as Illinois hosts Michigan on Friday (November 1) in an FS1-broadcasted match at 7:30 p.m. CT, before taking on Michigan State on Saturday (November 2) at 7 p.m. CT in Huff Hall.