by Lisa Miller
Daily Illini sports reporter
Once in a hard-hitting storm of Big Ten volleyball teams, the No. 23-ranked Illini have finally passed through the rain and gotten back on course.
“(Illinois head coach) Don (Hardin) keeps referring to it as a ship going through a storm. The worst part is over, and if we stay together, we’ll be fine in the end,” said senior outside hitter Sara Sorrell.
Despite dropping matches to both Ohio State on Friday and No. 1 Penn State on Saturday, Hardin is pretty happy with the improvements the team has made.
“We’re doing a pretty good job, and I declare the storm over,” Hardin said.
Friday night, the Illini were swept in three games by Ohio State, a team that the Illini went to five games with and defeated on Oct. 3.
OSU took control of Game One early, despite the fight the Illini rendered. The Illini and the Buckeyes were only tied once in Game One, 2-2, before OSU took an 8-3 lead. Illinois fought through several side outs before scoring again to make the score 10-6 on a serve by junior middle blocker Betsy Spicer. Spicer served again, making the score 10-7 because of a bad set by OSU freshman setter Katie Virtue. The Buckeyes finished the game on two consecutive points, defeating the Illini 15-8.
Game Two seemed to repeat Game One, with the Buckeyes jumping out to a 9-2 lead. The Illini scored seven points, while OSU couldn’t put it together to put points on the board. The Illini tied it up at 9-9, but then went on to score twice before OSU tied it at 11-11. A kill by OSU senior outside hitter Rosie Snow and an attack error by Spicer gave the Buckeyes a 13-11 lead. The Illini scored again to tie it at 13-13 before OSU put the final two points on the board, ending the game at 15-13.
The Buckeyes dominated Game Three, only allowing the Illini to lead 4-3 at one point. However, the Buckeyes led the rest of the way, defeating the Illini, 15-9.
The victory in Game Three, as well as the first two, came down to the play of senior outside hitter Jen Flynn, who hit .355 for the evening with 16 kills in 31 swings.
“Ohio State did a great job of defending up tonight. Their defense, particularly Jen Flynn, I thought was outstanding — one of the best individual performances I’ve seen in Huff in quite a few years,” Hardin said.
Illinois was out-hit in the match .214 to .132, but its passing was much improved from past performances this season. Early in the match, passing still seemed to hamper the Illini, but during the course of the match, the Illini found a rhythm, according to Hardin.
Spicer was the only Illini to collect double-digit kills. She had 10 for the night, supported by her .316 hitting percentage. Sophomore middle blocker Lydia Gard hit .269 for the match.
The Illini faced Penn State Saturday and dropped the match in four games in front of a season-high 3,083 fans.
Penn State grabbed the lead early in Game One, leading 5-1. The Illini scored only three more times to the Nittany Lions’ five points, to make the score 10-6. Illinois couldn’t recover from the deficit as Penn State went on to score five consecutive points on Illini errors and kills by senior outside hitter Carrie Schonveld and senior setter Bonnie Bremner.
Illini senior setter Melissa Beitz gave the Illini a 3-0 lead by serving two aces and assisting sophomore outside hitter Shadia Haddad’s kill in the start of Game Two. The Illini led 5-2 before Penn State tied it at 5-5 and kept the lead until the score was tied at 10-10. Illinois tied the game up at every point until the Nittany Lions finished the game at 15-13.
Game Three gave rise to something that Penn State isn’t accustomed to as the No. 1 team — a team that can beat them solidly. The Illini took Game Three 15-6, allowing the score to be tied at 3-3, then leading the rest of the way. Penn State was only able to score three times after the 3-3 mark, while the Illini put up the next 12 points. Sorrell ended the game on a service ace.
The Illini led in Game Four, 4-1, before the Nittany Lions began to creep up. Slowly but surely, Penn State was starting to gain on the Illini, tying the score at 7-7 and never allowing the Illini to lead after that.
“Even though we hate to lose and tonight was about winning, we’re playing great volleyball, and that’s where we want to be,” Hardin said. “I consider Game Four our best game of the season so far, but we’ve got to sustain that. We can’t just pull it out every once in a while.”
Penn State out-hit the Illini .241 to .178 for the night. Gard hit a team-high .389, while senior outside hitter Tracey Marshall and Haddad each collected 19 kills.
The Illini will resume play in a mid-week match at Indiana Wednesday night.
