By: Illinois College was unstoppable on Wednesday night, hitting .337 in a three-set sweep of the Highlanders.
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College volleyball team left nothing to chance on Wednesday night in the team's home finale of the 2017 season, smacking down 44 kills against only nine errors and hitting .337 as a team in a 3-0 sweep (25-11, 25-15, 25-14) of MacMurray College in the annual Set, Serve & Rally for a Cure match. The Lady Blues improved to 12-14 on the season with the win.
The first set was all Illinois College as the Lady Blues had 15 kills in the set, while MacMurray managed four kills and six attack errors. The Highlanders took a 4-3 lead early on before IC reeled off five points in a row, including two
Maddie Ramsey kills and a solo block from the sophomore as well. The lead stretched to 13-6 before a MacMurray timeout. The visitors then scored two points in a row out of the break and pulled within five, but the Lady Blues then went on an eight-point run to put the set out of reach.
MacMurray again managed to hold an early edge in the second set, going on top 6-5. From there, Illinois College scored 11 of the next 12 points, going up, 16-7. From there, the closest that the Highlanders could get was seven points, but the Lady Blues accounted for four of the last five points in the set to close it out strong and take a 2-0 lead.
Illinois College wasted no time taking command in the third and final set of the match. The Lady Blues hit .452 as a team with 16 kills and only two attack errors, with
Ali Pankey supplying seven kills all on her own. Despite the unstoppable IC offense, MacMurray still was within five points at 19-14 before the Lady Blues ended it with an
Elizabeth Ganley kill, a Highlander attack error, an ace from
Kori Hayes, and kills from Pankey and Ramsey.
Pankey ended with a match-high 13 kills on the night, while Ramsey had 12 kills with no errors for a .545 attack percentage.
Rebecca Shields added eight kills and Hayes had six on the night. Ganley handed out 35 assists with 11 digs, while
Madie Budd led all players in the match with 19 kills.
Illinois College ends the year at the Augustana Pumpkin Bash in Rock Island, Ill. on Oct. 27 and 28. The Lady Blues will take on Simpson College at 6 p.m. on Friday night, followed by Augustana College at 8 p.m. On Saturday, IC and Wartburg College will square off at 11 a.m.
