Volleyball Battles in Five Set Thriller at Illinois

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Michigan State volleyball program battled to a five-set loss against Illinois on Sunday afternoon, falling 3-2 (23-25, 26-24, 25-23, 22-25, 13-15), from Huff Hall. MSU trailed 12-6 in the fifth set before battling back within one point twice, 13-12 and 14-13, before Illinois found the match-winning kill. Sunday's game featured 14 lead changes and 37 tied scores, a testament to the back-and-forth nature of the contest.

With a loss the Spartans fall to 9-4 overall and 1-1 in Big Ten conference action. Illinois evens its record to 6-6 overall and 1-1 in the B1G.

Freshman outside hitter Taylah Holdem led MSU with 19 kills and had her first career double-double with 11 digs. Junior setter Julia Bishop also had a double-double with 24 assists and 12 digs on Sunday. Freshman setter Cameron Berger nearly did the same in Michigan State's 6-2 offense, finishing the match with 21 assists and eight digs.

Junior outside hitxters Aliyah Moore and Grace Kelly posted 15 and 12 kills respectively. Sophomore defensive specialist Jayhlin Swain led the Spartans in digs with 15, while senior libero Nalani Iosia had 13. Fifth year middle blocker Amani McArthur had a team-high six blocks (one solo, five assisted).

Michigan State was out-hit .177 to .243 but finished the match with more service aces (8-to-2) and digs (68-to-64). The Spartans were out-blocked 17-to-11 by Illinois. Raina Terry led the Illini with 25 kills, while Brooke Mosher had 46 assists and 17 digs. Kennedy Collins had 19 kills and nine blocks for Illinois.

Both sides traded points early in the first before Illinois built a late four-point advantage to put themselves on set point, 24-20. The Spartans would not go down without a fight however going on a 3-0 run that forced the Illini to burn both of their timeouts. An MSU service error would end the set however, in favor of Illinois.

Michigan State took an early 5-4 lead and fought off run after Illini run to win the second set. The Spartans led by as many as five in the set, up 14-9, but Illinois would tie the frame up at 14-14, 17-17, 23-23 and 24-24. An Illini attacking error put the Spartans on set point before Holdem came up with the winning kill, her 10th of the afternoon.

MSU trailed both early and late in set three, but an 11-4 run to close out the third saw Michigan State come away on top. Illinois led by as many as six, 14-8, at the mid-way point but the Spartans kept clawing away at the Illini lead. Holdem's 15th kill of the match tied the set up at 23-23, the first tied score of the set. Back-to-back hitting errors by Illinois gave the third to MSU.

The teams once again traded points throughout the fourth set before a 4-1 Spartan run put MSU up 20-18 late in the set. MSU's run included a pair of kills by Holdem. Illinois responded in a big way however, ending the set on a 7-2 run to force a decisive fifth set.

Illinois led the fifth set 8-5 at the turn and 12-6 before Michigan State used a 4-0 run to pull within 12-10 and force an Illini timeout. Kelly had back-to-back kills for MSU in the run. The Spartans pulled back within one point on two occasions, 13-12 and 14-13, before Illinois' Collins sent home the match-winning kill.

UP NEXT
Michigan State has a split trip in store for them next weekend, first heading to Northwestern for an 8:00 p.m. ET match on Friday, Sept. 29 before returning to the Breslin Center to face Rutgers at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 1. Sunday's game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.

Players Mentioned

Cam Berger

Julia Bishop

Taylah Holdem

Nalani Iosia

Grace Kelly

Amani McArthur

Aliyah Moore

Jayhlin Swain