Chambana Sun

Illinois volleyball continued its successful start to the season with a four-set victory over Illinois State at Huff Hall on Tuesday night. The Fighting Illini remain undefeated at 3-0, while Illinois State fell to 1-3.

As a team, the Orange and Blue recorded 47 kills and a .342 hitting percentage. They also added 42 digs, 40 assists, 14 blocks, and seven aces.

Individually, Averie Hernandez led the Fighting Illini with 12 kills. Ashlyn Philpot achieved her first collegiate double-double with 11 kills and 10 blocks. Raina Terry contributed 11 kills and four service aces. Brooke Mosher provided 31 assists, while Christina Martinez Mundo logged 13 digs.

Illinois took control early in the match, with Cari Bohm's kill giving them an early lead of 8-4. Caroline Barnes' serving extended their advantage to 16-5. After back-to-back kills by Terry, Illinois State called a timeout with Illinois ahead at 21-10. The Illini won the opening set convincingly, 25-13.

The second set saw both teams battling evenly until it was tied at nine apiece. Despite taking a timeout while trailing late in the set, Illinois dropped their first set of the season, losing it 25-20.

In the third set, a four-point run including an ace from Raegen Reilly helped Illinois take a lead of 13-10, prompting an Illinois State timeout. Another strong rally led by Terry pushed Illinois ahead further to win the set, 25-18.

The fourth set began with Illinois trailing early but they managed to turn things around with a five-point run that included three blocks for a slight advantage of 14-13. An ace from Terry extended their lead to prompt another timeout from ISU when Illinois was up at 21-18. Terry's serving sealed the final set at 25-18 and secured the match victory.

Next up for the Orange and Blue is the Cyclone Invitational starting Friday against Toledo on ESPN+.

Key notes from the match include:

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

- Taylor de Boer made her collegiate debut.

- The team wore long-sleeved white jerseys and improved to 2-0 wearing them.

- The all-time record between Illinois volleyball program and Illinois State is now 30-31.

- Terry's four aces brought her career total to 170.

- In the first set alone, Illinois achieved a .480 hitting percentage while holding ISU to .034.

- This match marked the second time this season that Illinois recorded double-digit blocks as a team (14).

-Terry's career kills reached seventh all-time for Illinois volleyball at 1,668.

- Philpot’s double-double was noted as her first career achievement in this regard.

- The last middle player with such performance was Kennedy Collins in 2021.

- The last freshman middle achieving this feat was Ali Bastianelli in 2015.

-The current season’s start (3-0) is similar to their start in 2021.

-Chris Tamas now holds a record of being three wins against two losses versus Redbirds.

-Attendance for this match was reported as being approximately at about 2 thousand seven hundred fifteen people