Illinois lost its season-opening match to South Dakota State, falling 3-1 at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Friday. The Jackrabbits took the first two sets before Illinois claimed the third. South Dakota State secured the win by taking the fourth set.
Taylor de Boer led Illinois with a career-high 15 kills and hit .344 coming off the bench. Auburn Tomkinson, making her collegiate debut, contributed 10 kills, two aces, six digs and two blocks. Freshman Alyssa Aguayo also made her first college appearance and posted a double-double with 10 kills and 19 digs.
Kenna Phelan recorded a career-best 48 assists in her Illini debut. Taryn Kirsch played her first collegiate match as libero and finished with 16 digs and five assists. Ashlyn Philpot added nine kills and two blocks while Kayla Burbage had eight kills and three blocks in her return to action.
The opening set saw neither team pull ahead by more than two points early on. A short run gave Illinois a brief lead, but South Dakota State scored the final three points to take the set, 25-23.
South Dakota State built an early advantage in the second set that Illinois nearly erased after a strong serving stretch from Averie Hernandez. However, SDSU held on for a 25-22 win to go up 2-0 in sets.
The third set started with SDSU jumping out to a 10-0 lead. Illinois answered back with service aces from Vivian Campbell and a key run led by Tomkinson at the line. De Boer closed out the frame for Illinois as they won it 25-23.
Illinois opened up an early four-point lead in the fourth set but could not maintain it as South Dakota State used a late surge to secure both the set (25-20) and match victory.
Six players made their Illini debuts during this contest: Auburn Tomkinson, Taryn Kirsch, Alyssa Aguayo (all starting), Sophi Randall, Lara Žigic, and Kenna Phelan. Phelan’s assist total was also noted as being the highest for an Illini setter since Brooke Mosher had 50 against Ohio State on November 15, 2023.
Following this result, Illinois is now tied at one win each all-time against South Dakota State. Under head coach Chris Tamas, Illinois has moved to seven wins and two losses in season openers.
Illinois will next travel south for Nashville’s Broadway Block Party event at Bridgestone Arena where they are scheduled to face Vanderbilt on Sunday at 5 p.m., with coverage available on SEC Network.
