UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Sixth-ranked Illinois opened its extended road trip with a visit to Penn State for the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge on Friday, September 4, where the Illini took the first set over No. 2 Stanford, but ultimately fell 3-1 in the contest. Neither team had dropped a set entering the match, but after Illinois won the first set 25-16, the Stanford Cardinal made sure to return the favor. Illinois is now 3-1 on the 2015 campaign, while Stanford moved to 3-0.
"I expected this to be a good volleyball match," shared head coach Kevin Hambly. "I think both teams made more errors and did some things that you're not going to see later in the season, but I expected this to be a tough battle. I expected our girls to fight and they fought."
Illinois opened the match with a dominating 25-16 first set victory. Jocelynn Birks and Katie Stadick each registered five kills in the frame, while freshman middle Ali Bastianelli contributed on all three of the Illini blocks in the set. The Orange and Blue led for much of the opening set as Stanford knotted the score just twice. Illinois hit .448 as a unit in the opener.
Stanford unlocked the second set by taking the first three points, but the Fighting Illini wouldn't go away as Hambly's squad forced nine ties in the second stanza alone. Illinois led for the first time in the set at 23-22, but fell 27-25 in the frame to knot the contest at 1-1. The Orange and Blue added three more blocks in the set with Bastianelli, Birks, Naya Crittenden and Stadick all contributing.
In set three, Illinois jumped out to an 8-3 lead, but after a timeout Stanford made a run to even out the score at nine-all. The Illini led by as many as three points twice more in the contest, but Stanford made a big run late taking nine of the final 12 points in the set to win 25-18.
The final set saw Illinois get on the board first, however, Stanford would jump out to a 6-2 advantage. An Allison Palmer ace pulled the Illinois crew within one at 15-16, followed by a Stanford attack error to knot it at 16-all. After ties at 16, 17 and 18, the Orange and Blue took a two-point lead at 20-18. Not to be outdone, Stanford went on a four-point run to take a 22-20 advantage before closing out the match with a 25-21 third-set victory.
"They just are a better volleyball team right now, but it's not about right now when it comes time for the NCAA tournament," stated Hambly. "We've seen that we can play with them and I like our chances later on in the year."
Birks registered her first double-double of the season, the 43rd of her career with 16 kills and 16 digs on the match. Michelle Strizak matched her career high with 15 kills in the contest. Brandi Donnelly was all over the court defensively and tallied 24 digs for the 12th 20-dig performance of her career.
Leading the block was Crittenden, who recorded contributions on seven of Illinois' 10 blocks. Bastianelli was present on six to go along with four by Stadick. Freshman setter Jordyn Poulter finished her first road contest with the Illini with 52 assists.
To close out the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge, Illinois will meet up with No. 21 Colorado at 4:30 pm CT tomorrow, Saturday, September 5, from University Park. The match will be televised by BTN.
