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 Illinois'
Kylie McCulley had a solid day for the Illini with nine kills and a
.381 hitting percentage, and sophomore middle blocker Johannah
Bangert came alive at times with five kills and a .500 hitting
percentage, but the Illini were not able to slow down a potent Penn
State offense, which hit .453 to Illinois' .125. Penn State also
outblocked the Illini 10-5.
Illinois
played Penn State close through the first half of the first set with
four leads, including an 8-7 advantage. Kylie McCulley's third kill
tied the score at 11.
But the
Lions, paced by Hodge's seven first-set kills, hit .458 and
outscored the Illini 14-5 to close the set. Penn State also
outblocked the Illini 5-1.
Penn State
used the same script to close out the Illini in set two. The set was
basically a side-out affair until back-to-back service aces from
Nicole Fawcett made it 15-11. McCulley had four kills in the set to
keep the Illini in it early. Fawcett had five kills in the that
second set, and the Lions extended their block lead to 8-3 in closing
out the set.
Penn State
dominated the third set, exploding to a 20-6 lead and hitting .581.
Hodge had five kills in that set.
"I like the
way we came out of the locker room and went at them," said Illinois
head coach Don Hardin. "We played up to our potential at times, but
we weren't ready to play at the level to stop that kind of offense
coming against us. They may have the best first-ball side-out swing
in the country."
[Text from file received from
U of I Athletic
Dept.]
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