Lady Blues Cap MWC Play in Fitting Fashion

Box Score
BELOIT, Wis. – For the Illinois College volleyball team, the final match of Midwest Conference play had to go five sets. That's just been the way it's been this season. For the fifth time in nine MWC contests, the Lady Blues went the distance on Saturday at Beloit College, prevailing with a 3-2 (25-18, 23-25, 25-22, 24-26, 15-7) victory. IC goes to 11-14 overall on the season, and ends with a 4-5 mark in conference play.

Illinois College used a series of small runs to grab an early lead over Beloit in the first set, pulling away for the seven-point victory. The Lady Blues had their highest hitting percentage of any set on the day, hitting .281 with 10 kills and only one attack error. The final tie of the set was at 5-5, then a block by Maddie Ramsey and an ace from Cheyanne Jockisch made it 7-5. After a side-out, Kori Hayes supplied IC with a kill and an ace. Later on, Rebecca Shields had two kills and a block assist in a three-point span to push Illinois College out to a 15-9 edge. Kills from Ramsey and Elizabeth Ganley gave IC its largest lead at 22-14 and a kill from Ali Pankey closed out the set.

Illinois College led most of the way in the second set, and were on the verge of going up two sets before Beloit rallied late to steal it away. A Hayes ace and a Ramsey kill put IC on top, 19-17, only for a series of Illinois College errors allow Beloit to take a 21-19 lead. A Madie Budd ace was part of a three-point streak for IC to take a 22-21 advantage, but the Buccaneers responded with three in a row to earn a set point at 24-22. A block from Ganley and Shields delayed Beloit's victory for one point, but Jaylan Dunn ended the second set with a kill for a 25-23 win.

The Lady Blues were able to re-take the lead in the match by taking control of the third set midway through. A kill from Pankey give IC the lead for good at 9-8. A block by Ramsey and a Hayes kill gave Illinois College its largest edge of the set at 19-13. The Bucs scored three in a row late in the set to pull within two points, but after a timeout, Pankey and Hayes put the set away for the 25-22 victory.

Beloit stormed out to an 8-0 lead in the fourth set, but Illinois College refused to back down. Two Ramsey kills and two Jockisch aces were part of a five-point run by the Lady Blues that brought them to within two at 10-8. IC would tie the set for the first time at 12-12 and actually continue on to take a 19-14 advantage. Beloit willed itself back to a 20-20 tie, then scored two vital late points to win the set, 26-24, and force the match to its limit.

Early on in the fifth, the score was tied at 2-2. Then the Lady Blues took over completely. Shields gave IC a 3-2 lead and that was followed by a Beloit attack error. The Buccaneers were able to make it 4-3, but the Lady Blues then put nine straight up on the board. Ramsey had four kills in the stretch of play, while Beloit committed four attack errors as well. The Bucs scored two straight to get to 13-5, but Ramsey earned the Lady Blues a match point and Pankey did the honors two points later to finish off the 15-7 triumph. 

Pankey ended with a match-high 18 kills along with 21 digs. Ramsey had 15 kills with a .289 hitting percentage and Shields closed the match with 11 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Hayes joined Pankey with a double-double, ending with 10 kills and 17 digs. A third IC double-double came from Ganley, who handed out 48 assists and had 15 digs on the afternoon.

Illinois College hosts its final match of the season on Wednesday night. The Lady Blues welcome in MacMurray College at 7 p.m. in the two programs' annual Serve, Set & Rally for a Cure match.