Chambana Sun

Illinois volleyball fell to No. 24 Dayton in four sets at E.A. Diddle Arena on Friday afternoon as part of the Hyatt Place Invitational.

The Fighting Illini moved to 6-1 this season, while the ranked Flyers remained unbeaten at 6-0.

Raina Terry led the way with 17 kills, 12 digs, and four aces. The four strikes from the service line helped the Ohio native reach 182 for her career, making her the program's all-time aces leader.

Illinois started strong with Terry behind the service line, taking a 5-1 lead following back-to-back aces. A back-and-forth battle ensued, with Dayton burning its final timeout after an Averie Hernandez kill put Illinois ahead, 20-15. The Fighting Illini maintained their momentum and secured a 25-18 triumph in the opening frame.

In the second set, Illinois fell behind, 13-7, before calling a timeout. The Flyers' advantage grew to nine late in the set, but Illinois fought back within three points and forced Dayton to call a timeout with Illinois trailing, 22-19. However, Illinois dropped the set, 25-19.

With the match tied at one set apiece, Dayton maintained dominance from the previous frame and held a 15-10 edge at the media break. Despite a seven-point run with Vivian Campbell at the service line and Dayton holding set point, Illinois lost the frame, 25-20.

Needing a win to force a decisive fifth set, Illinois fell behind early in the fourth set following two three-point rallies by Dayton. Despite a late scoring run with Terry and Christina Martinez Mundo at the service line, Illinois could not overcome the deficit and dropped both the set (25-18) and match (3-1).

The Orange and Blue will close out their participation in the Hyatt Place Invitational with a match against host WKU on Saturday. First serve is scheduled for 3 p.m. on ESPN+.

Notes:

Starters: Raina Terry, Brooke Mosher, Averie Hernandez, Cari Bohm, Ashlyn Philpot,

Laynie Smith and Christina Martinez Mundo.

The Illini wore long-sleeved navy jerseys for this match.

Illinois hit .387 in the opening frame while holding Dayton to .081.

The record between Illinois volleyball program and Dayton now stands at

7-6.

Terry's career total of 182 aces places her first all-time for Illinois.

She surpassed Mary Eggers' record during this match's second set.

Terry has accumulated 1 ,747 career kills , ranking fifth all-time

for Illinois.

This double-double was Terry's first of this season and nineteenth overall.

Chris Tamas is now tied at one win each against Dayton as head coach .

Attendance was reported as twenty-two .