Chambana Sun

Illinois volleyball began the Cyclone Invitational with a triumph over Toledo in straight sets at Hilton Coliseum on Friday afternoon.

The Fighting Illini improved to 4-0 on the season, while the Rockets dropped to 3-2.

As a team, Illinois registered 41 kills while hitting .349 in the match. The squad also logged 37 assists, 30 digs, and seven aces.

Individually, Raina Terry paced the Illinois offense with 15 kills, hitting .519 in the match. Brooke Mosher tallied 25 assists, while Caroline Barnes led the way with 11 digs.

Illinois jumped out to an early 12-3 lead via a 9-0 rally with Averie Hernandez behind the service line. The Fighting Illini continued to dominate, with the Rockets burning their final timeout with the Orange and Blue ahead, 17-7. Illinois added nine-straight points following the break to reach set point, and Taylor de Boer's second-career kill put away the 25-9 opening set triumph.

In the second set, the teams battled point-for-point, with the Orange and Blue holding a slight 15-14 edge at the media break. The Illini added three-straight out of the timeout, including an ace from Hernandez, to hold an 18-15 lead. The Fighting Illini dominated down the stretch, ending with a 25-19 victory in the second set on a 3-0 scoring run.

Illinois continued to cruise in the third set, owning a 13-9 advantage when Toledo called for a timeout. The Fighting Illini lead grew to six at 16-10 following a kill by Hernandez. Toledo called its final timeout with Illinois ahead at 19-12 but could not stall as Illinois took the final set at 25-18.

The Orange and Blue return to face off against Cyclone Invitational host Iowa State on Saturday afternoon. First serve is slated for 4 p.m. on ESPN+.

Starters included Raina Terry, Brooke Mosher, Averie Hernandez, Cari Bohm, Ashlyn Philpot, Laynie Smith and Caroline Barnes. The Illini wore long-sleeved white jerseys moving to a record of three wins this season while donning those uniforms. The Illinois volleyball program is now undefeated all-time against Toledo after two matches and has improved to start their season at four wins without any losses for the first time since 2018.

Terry tallied two aces bringing her career total to172 aces along with four kills without errors in just one frame of play today bringing her career tally up-to-date as sixth all-time highest scorer having achieved over sixteen hundred career-kills so far till date; Chris Tamas has moved onto achieving his first win ever facing-off Rockets; Attendance was recorded around two-hundred-sixty attendees during today's game-play event here today.