Hoosiers Take No. 8 Illinois to Five Sets, Come Up Short

Sunday, September 23

Bloomington, Ind.

1:00 PM

Indiana University

10-3

#8 Illinois

13-0

Illinois

Indiana

Hoosiers Take No. 8 Illinois to Five Sets, Come Up Short

9/23/2018 5:14:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – After winning the first two sets, the Indiana volleyball team fell in five sets to No. 8 Illinois (26-24, 25-22, 18-25, 17-25, 8-15) on Sunday at University Gym.

Key Moments

With the score tied 23-23 in first set an ace from Meaghan Koors put the Hoosiers up 24-23 and forced an Illinois timeout.
After Illinois tied it 24-24 in the first set, an Illinois service error and Kamryn Molloy gave the Hoosiers the first set 26-24.
At 15-15 in the second set, the Hoosiers used their 5-1 run to build a 20-16 lead. Illinois responded and tied the match for the ninth time in the set at 22-22. The Hoosiers scored three straight points to win the set and go up 2-0 in the match.
At 14-14 in the third set the Illini scored three straight points as they won the set 25-18.
The Illini won the fourth set 25-17 forcing a fifth set.
The Illini hit .421 in the fifth set and leading 12-8 they scored the next three points to win the set 15-8 and the match.

Notables

Indiana is now sitting at a 10-3 record and 1-1 in conference play.
Freshman Breana Edwards led the team in kills with 10. Edwards now has reached double-digit kills in nine straight matches and ten for the season.
Victoria Brisack led Indiana with 25 assists.
Bayli Lebo tallied 15 digs, her 12^th double-digit performance in 13 matches this season.
Freshman Abigail Westenhofer had three of the Hoosier's nine aces in the match.
The Hoosiers recorded 11 total team blocks and had posted double-digit blocks in four of their last five matches.
Combined in the five sets there were 39 ties and 13 lead changes.

Indiana Head Coach Steve Aird
"You know I think it is funny when we have a result like this because the fans and team and everyone is really disappointed you didn't get the result you want, but that's a really good volleyball team that through two games didn't play that well and then they started to play more like themselves. I think Jordan Poulter is one of the best players in the country and one of my favorite human beings. She's just a veteran kid who kept them in it and kept them calm. I think Kamryn Malloy stepped in and played hard. I think the kids competed hard. We are starting three freshmen against the number eight team in the country. It was a match, obviously disappointed we didn't win because I am a competitive guy and the team is full off competitive people, but plenty here to suggest that we are getting better and have room to keep getting better. I am not a guy who pouts, so if the mood is somber then I'll leave that up to other people. I am proud of the kids, I thought they played hard and the environment was great."

Up Next
The Hoosiers travel to Columbus, Ohio to take on Ohio State on Wednesday, Sept. 26. That match will take place at 7 p.m. and air on the Big Ten Network.