Chambana Sun

Illinois volleyball opened its 2024 campaign on Friday with a sweep over Cincinnati at the Best Western Invitational in Bowling Green, Ohio. The match served as the season opener for both squads.

Individually, Raina Terry led with 13 kills while hitting .310. Brooke Mosher paced the squad with 27 assists and seven aces. Defensively, Caroline Barnes and Christina Martinez Mundo tallied double-digit digs with 13 and 10, respectively.

In their collegiate debuts, Ashlyn Philpot and Laynie Smith shined. Philpot notched seven blocks and six kills, while Smith amassed 11 kills accompanied by a .429 hitting percentage.

Illinois began the match on a 4-0 run, with Smith scoring a kill on three of those points. The team stretched their advantage to six before Cincinnati took a timeout with Illinois ahead, 7-1. Three-straight aces from Mosher gave Illinois an 18-6 edge. The team scored the final three points of the opening set, closing out a 25-10 triumph.

The second set began as a back-and-forth battle until an Averie Hernandez kill led to a Bearcat timeout with Illinois ahead, 13-10. Mosher continued to dominate from the service line, locking in her fourth ace to give Illinois an 18-13 advantage. Cincinnati fended off two set points before Terry sealed the 25-19 victory.

Mosher helped Illinois pull ahead early in the third set with two aces for a 10-6 lead. Three-straight kills helped maintain their edge at 17-10. Cari Bohm put the match away with a kill out of the middle to finish off a 25-14 third-set win.

Key notes include:

- Starters: Raina Terry, Brooke Mosher, Averie Hernandez, Cari Bohm, Ashlyn Philpot, Laynie Smith, and Caroline Barnes.

- The match marked collegiate debuts for Philpot and Smith.

- Hernandez, Raegen Reilly, Vivian Campbell and Christina Martinez Mundo played their first match for Illinois.

- Terry added two aces to bring her career total to 166.

- Mosher's seven aces tied her career high.

- Smith became the first true freshman since Jacqueline Quade in August 2016 to post double-digit kills in her debut.

- Illinois wore long-sleeved white jerseys for the first time.

- The program is now 10-3 all-time against Cincinnati.

- Illinois never trailed in winning the first set.

- Six aces were served during their third-set victory.

- This was head coach Chris Tamas' first time facing Cincinnati.

- Attendance was recorded at 140.