Chambana Sun

Illinois volleyball faced a tough challenge on Saturday night at Huff Hall, falling to UCLA in a Big Ten match. The Fighting Illini now hold an 18-10 record for the season with a 10-8 mark in conference play. Meanwhile, the Bruins improved their overall record to 13-14 and stand at 7-11 against league opponents.

Raina Terry led Illinois with an impressive performance, recording 22 kills and 10 digs, marking her 22nd career double-double. Laynie Smith also contributed significantly with 12 kills, achieving double figures for the 11th time in her career. Brooke Mosher was instrumental in orchestrating the offense, tallying up 40 assists.

In the opening set, Illinois trailed early but managed to recover with key plays including an ace from Mosher and a crucial kill by Cari Bohm. Ashlyn Philpot's decisive kill secured a 25-20 victory for the Illini.

The second set saw a close contest with UCLA maintaining a slight edge. Despite efforts from Illinois to close the gap, they ultimately lost the set 25-17 as they struggled to find their rhythm.

The third set continued to challenge Illinois as they fell behind early following a scoring run by UCLA. Attempts to rally were unsuccessful and resulted in another setback for the Illini with a score of 25-15.

Facing pressure in the fourth frame, Illinois initially took advantage of service errors by UCLA and held an edge at one point. However, despite battling back late in the match, they were unable to secure victory, dropping both the set (25-23) and match after being outscored by UCLA towards match point.

Looking ahead, Illinois will conclude their home slate facing #16 Minnesota on Wednesday at Huff Hall. The match is scheduled for broadcast on B1G+ at 7 p.m.

### Notes:

Raina Terry reached or exceeded twenty kills for the fifth time this year and has done so twenty-five times during her career. Her double-double against UCLA marked her seventh of this season. Chris Tamas remains winless against UCLA as head coach of Illinois volleyball; his team is now zero-for-twelve historically versus this opponent while being one-and-three against new Big Ten programs this season. Attendance was reported at nearly three thousand spectators inside Huff Hall where players wore long-sleeved white jerseys—maintaining success previously seen when donning them throughout current competition cycles.