UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – For the first time since 2014 the Illinois volleyball team earned a victory in Rec Hall as the Illini pushed their win streak to four matches with a 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 27-25, 25-22) upset of No. 13 Penn State on Saturday (October 30) night.
The Illini, who last defeated the Nittany Lions (15-7, 8-4 B1G) in a five-set thriller in 2018 in Huff Hall, earned just their 12th win over PSU in program history and their fourth-ever in Rec Hall. UI's last victory in University Park came on October 11, 2014 when the Illini took down the then-defending champions in four sets.
The Illini (16-7, 8-4 B1G) were led by sophomore Raina Terry with a team-high 17 kills to go along with four digs and three blocks, with graduate student Megan Cooney turning in 14 kills on a .343 hitting percentage and seven digs. Junior Kennedy Collins joined the duo in double figures with 11 kills, while classmate Kyla Swanson added eight kills on 11 swings and no errors for a .727 attack clip and led the match with seven blocks.
Redshirt-junior Diana Brown equaled a season-high with 52 assists as she directed the Illini offense to a .299 hitting percentage while also turning in nine digs in the win. Graduate student Kylie Bruder led the Illini at the service line with a career-high four aces, while junior Taylor Kuper led the defensive effort with a match-high 19 digs. Freshman Caroline Barnes added a career-high 12 digs on the night.
A pair of Bruder aces in the early goings sparked an early 5-2 advantage for the Illini in the opening set, but three-straight PSU points tied the score at 5-5. The two teams then exchanged points until the home team notched back-to-back scores for a 15-12 lead midway through the set. The Illini fought back with a 5-2 run to tie the score at 17-17, before the Nittany Lions used five-straight points to build a 22-17 edge. Back-to-back points from the Illini – capped by a Kuper ace – cut the deficit to 22-19, but PSU went on to score three of the final four points to take the first, 25-20.
After trading points to open the second, Penn State used three-straight scores to take a 9-6 edge, but back-to-back Illini points closed the score within one at 9-8 as the two teams traded points over the next several rallies. The Nittany Lions then used a 4-2 mini run to go ahead at 15-12, but another two Illini scores brought the visitors within one at 15-14. After a block from Swanson and junior Jessica Nunge brought the Illini to within 16-15, the home team strung together three-straight scores for a 19-15 advantage. Trailing by four at 20-16, the Illini rallied to end the set on a 9-3 run, including four-straight points as a Brown ace sealed the 25-23 set win to tie up the match at 1-1.
In the tightest set of the match, with 14 ties and five lead changes, the Illini took an early 10-7 edge on a 5-1 run that was capped by back-to-back Swanson kills. The Illini continued to lead as back-to-back kills from Terry and Cooney pushed the advantage to 18-13, but five-straight PSU points knotted the score at 18-18. The two teams traded points as PSU earned a pair of set points, but the Illini fought them both off with the Nittany Lions serving into the net to tie the score at 25-25, before kills from Terry and Swanson gave the Illini the third, 27-25.
The Illini jumped out to the early 6-3 lead on back-to-back Terry kills, before the Nittany Lions tied things up at 8-8. From there, it was a back-and-forth affair with the Illini grabbing two-point advantages at 16-14, 18-16, 21-19 and 22-20, but PSU continued to battle back until UI broke a 22-22 tie with three-straight points on back-to-back Terry kills, following by the match-winning kill from Collins at 25-22.
Illinois next returns home to open a four-match homestand in Huff Hall, starting with Big Ten Network-broadcasted contest against No. 6 Nebraska at 8 p.m. CT on Thursday (November 4), before facing off with No. 11 Minnesota on Saturday (November 6) at 6 p.m. CT.
For more Fighting Illini volleyball news, stay tuned to FightingIllini.com and follow @IlliniVBall on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook.
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October 31, 2021 at 07:59AM
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Illini Upset No. 13 Penn State in Four - University of Illinois Athletics - Fighting Illini
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