Illini Classic
- Champaign, Illinois
- Sept. 14-15, 2018
The Illini recovered after dropping the opening set against No. 14 Creighton in the tournament finale, winning three straight sets to stay perfect on the season at 11-0. Earlier in the day, Illinois swept Lipscomb and Creighton swept Northern Iowa.
11-0, baby!
What a match. What a crowd. 🙌🏼#ILLINI pic.twitter.com/7GS6SObDoQ
— Illini Volleyball (@IlliniVBall) September 16, 2018
Standings
- Illinois 3-0
- Creighton 2-1
- Northern Iowa 1-2
- Lipscomb 0-3
Friday Results
- Northern Iowa def. Lipscomb 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-16)
- Illinois def. Northern Iowa 3-0 (25-13, 26-24, 25-21)
- Creighton def. Lipscomb 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-23)
#6 Illinois def. Lipscomb 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-11)
- Illinois moves to 10-0; Lipscomb falls to 5-7
- Box Score
- Illinois Recap / Lipscomb Recap
Notables
- The Illini committed just three hitting errors in the match for a .513 effort, while limiting Lipscomb to a .024 effort.
- Illinois put up 15 blocks, while allowing just one. The Illini also boasted a 43-25 advantage in kills and 5-3 edge in aces.
- Jacqueline Quade (13) and Megan Cooney (12) led the Illini offense with double-digit kill efforts, while hitting .480 or better. Beth Prince added eight putaways on an errorless .571 effort (8-0-14).
- Ali Bastianelli guided the Illinois block with eight stuffs, while Cooney and Ashlyn Fleming added five apiece.
- Carlyle Nusbaum registered 11 kills for Lipscomb, while Maddie Phillips added seven putaways on a .429 hitting effort (7-1-14).
- Leading by just two at 9-7 in Set 3, Illinois broke the game open with a 14-2 run. Prince notched three kills and a block as the team went up 23-9. Two kills by Cooney sealed the sweep.
#14 Creighton def. (RV) Northern Iowa 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-11)
- Creighton moved to 8-3; UNI fell to 6-6
- Box Score
- Creighton Recap / UNI Recap
Notables
- Creighton hit at a nearly .300 clip in all three sets, culminating in an error-free .407 effort in Set 3 (11-0-27). Northern Iowa, on the other hand, could not get out of its own way, committing 18 miscues and hitting .000 and .032 in Sets 1 and 3.
- Creighton outdid the Panthers in kills (41-30), aces (8-4) and blocks (5-1).
- A balanced attack saw four Bluejays notch seven or more kills in the match: Taryn Kloth (9), Jaela Zimmerman (8), Jaali Winters (7) and Megan Ballenger (7). Zimmerman hit at a team-best .533 clip (8-0-15).
- Annika Welty served up five of Creighton’s eight aces and put up a team-high three blocks.
- Piper Thomas put down 11 kills to lead Northern Iowa. Karlie Taylor added seven kills, 10 digs and two aces, but hit .000 (7-7-29).
- Creighton built a 5-1 lead early in Set 3 and never looked back. It was a five-point game midway through at 12-7, but the Bluejays poured it on from there, closing out the match on a 13-4 run. Welty served up three aces in the final stretch, while a service error and a Winters putaway ended the night.
- The match was a rematch of the teams’ August 24 meeting in Los Angeles, which the Panthers won in a sweep.
#6 Illinois def. #14 Creighton 3-1 (19-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-23)
- Illinois moves to 11-0; Creighton falls to 8-4
- Box Score
- Illinois Recap / Creighton Recap
Notables
- After hitting just .116 in the opening stanza, Illinois hit .280 or better the rest of the way, en route to outhitting Creighton .241 to .211 for the match.
- Illinois piled up 14 blocks in the match to distance itself in an otherwise close match. The Bluejays boasted a 57-55 lead in kills, but committed five more hitting errors and were outblocked 14-2. Both teams managed five aces.
- Jacqueline Quade notched 21 kills, seven digs and two aces to pace the Illini. Megan Cooney also turned in double-digit putdowns with 12 to go with five blocks.
- Ali Bastianelli registered nine blocks to guide Illinois at the net.
- Jordyn Poulter posted her fourth double-double of the year with 45 assists and 15 digs for the Illini.
- Taryn Kloth put down a match-high 23 kills, while Jaali Winters notched an 11-kill, 10-dig double-double for the Bluejays.
- Madelyn Cole just missed a double-double with 41 assists and nine digs.
- Illinois raced out to a 7-1 lead in Set 4 and fought to hold off the Bluejays, while narrowed the gap to one three times, last at 11-10. Down 17-12, Creighton rallied with seven straight points, including four Winters kills, to go up 19-17. Trailing 20-18, Illinois closed out the win with a final 7-3 push. Quade had three kills in the final push, while Bastianelli and Poulter teamed up for a block to win it at 25-23.
The final point.#ILLINI pic.twitter.com/XncYbA8dar
— Illini Volleyball (@IlliniVBall) September 16, 2018
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