No. 19 Illinois Downs No. 15 Cyclones

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Cyclone Victoria Hurtt had a team-high 10 kills on Friday night as No. 19 Illinois (2-2, 0-0 Big Ten) defeated No. 15 Iowa State (1-3, 0-0 Big 12) in straight sets, 25-16, 25-23, 25-16.

The Illini held the Cyclones to .096 hitting while putting up a .343 offense on their own, led by Jocelynn Birks’ 13 kills. Liz McMahon posted 11 kills for Illinois and Morganne Criswell added 10 kills, hitting .500, in the match.

Illinois’ blocking effort was built on Anna Dorn’s five block assists, all in the first set, and the team totaled seven blocks off Iowa State’s attack. 

Trailing the Cyclones 15-12 in the first set, Illinois surged to a 13-1 run to take the game, helped by Dorn’s block assists and three more from McMahon. Iowa State senior Rachel Hockaday led all players at the first break with four kills but the Cyclones hit just .068 against the staunch Illinois defense.

The teams tangled in set two, with the home team finally pulling away for the win on .350 hitting, led by six kills each from Birks and Criswell.

Set three belonged to Illinois who jumped out to a 4-1 lead and never let up, hitting .333 and holding Iowa State to no hitting percentage, 11 kills and 11 errors, to clinch the sweep. 

On Saturday, the Cyclones and Illini are at it again in match two of the weekend series. First serve is set for 4:30 p.m. CST.