CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois needs some momentum heading to the homestretch of the season.
It didn’t get it on Thursday night at Huff Hall as UCLA dispatched the Illini in four sets.
Head coach Chris Tamas made a bold lineup change, entrusting sophomore Sophi Randall to the starting setter position. This comes after Randall has been splitting sets with senior Kenna Phelan, whose spark seems to have dimmed. Randall has looked strong in recent matchups, with an exciting slide connection with middle Ashlyn
Philpot.
UCLA was a great matchup for the Illini at this point in the season, as both teams are strong and unranked. To add on, UCLA entered the night on a four-match losing streak. This wasn’t necessarily a “must win,” but the momentum would’ve been nice looking ahead to a tough schedule.
Illinois threw the first punch of the night, winning the first set 25-17. However, it only went down from there. The Illini block coverage diminished in the second set, and the front row went silent. A glimmer of hope for the Illini Thursday was no doubt sophomore outside Alyssa Aguayo.
After a rough second and third set — Illinois dropped both, 25-15, 25-21 — Aguayo stood out in a struggling Illini lineup. Aguayo led the team with a whopping 19 kills, setting her career high. A strength of Aguayo’s is her ability to slow the game down, and play technically. She is a player that is beautiful to watch, and holds herself in a composed manner. Head coach Chris Tamas agrees too.
“She’s very steady and someone we rely on a lot,” Tamas said. “We’re gonna continue to rely on her as the season goes on.”
The fourth set was a change in momentum for the Illini, senior Kenna Phelan entered the game in hopes to bring some defensive stability to the team. The change was definitely much needed, and lit a fire underneath her squad. The set was back-and-forth, with the Illini pushing the Bruins to a tie at 24-24. A serving error by Paityn Chapman returned UCLA the rock, and the game was ended by a blocked dump-set from Phelan.
That same story got told a lot Thursday night as the Illini managed to rack up 13 serving errors, led by freshman phenom Maya Harris with 4, and closely followed by Randall, who chipped in 3. The serving errors mixed with 23 attack errors, led to a flat outing.
Up Next
The Illini now travel to face No. 22 Indiana, and undefeated No. 1 Nebraska, then meet No. 11 Penn State at Huff Hall. After this gauntlet of games, the Illini only have one opportunity to catch a breath of fresh air (unranked Iowa on Nov. 17) before heading to the first Big Ten Volleyball Tournament.
