By: Down a set, Illinois College roared back to claim three straight in an impressive 3-1 win over the Red Hawks.
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College volleyball team overcame an early deficit and pulled away from Ripon College on Friday night for a 3-1 (18-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-19) victory. The win moves the Lady Blues to 8-10 (2-1 Midwest Conference) and into a three-way tie for second place in the conference. The Red Hawks fall to 6-13 (1-1 MWC).
Facing Ripon at home for the first time since 2013, Illinois College defeated the Red Hawks for the first time since 2012 in Head Coach
Kristy Duncan's 100th match in charge. Early on, that didn't appear to be the way the night would turn out though. Ripon dismantled IC in the first set, only allowing six kills from the Lady Blues. Meanwhile, Ripon slammed down 14 kills and also tallied four aces. Amazingly, the Lady Blues still managed to lead halfway through the set, 16-15, before the Red Hawks ran off seven points in a row to put the set out of reach.
The second set was different right from the outset. With the score knotted 2-2, Illinois College won 12 of the next 13 points to take a huge 15-3 lead. Ripon managed to get as close as six points, but the bulge proved to be too much to overcome. IC hit at a .290 clip in the set and
Maddie Ramsey had five kills on eight attacks.
The third set went back and forth before Ripon was able to claw its way to a 16-13 lead and force a timeout from Illinois College. After the break in action, the Lady Blues regrouped and went from down 18-17 to out in front by a score of 22-18. The Red Hawks scored two straight to pull within two points, but a service error gave the ball back to IC and a
MacKenzie Heinz kill gave the Lady Blues a set point. An attack error from Ripon on the next point clinched it for a 2-1 advantage in the match.
Ali Pankey did the heavy lifting in the fourth set. Pankey ended with a match-high 18 kills on the night and six came in the deciding set. Like throughout the match, little separated the two teams until the very end. With the score at 18-18, Pankey gave the lead back to Illinois College and
Kori Hayes then made it 20-18. That caused Ripon to burn a timeout and the Red Hawks won the next point to pull within one at 20-19. That was all she wrote for the visitors however. Illinois College reeled off the next five points with three kills from Pankey and Heinz combining with two Ripon attack errors to end it.
Ramsey joined Pankey in double-digits for kills on the night with 10. Heinz had eight with a team-high .273 hitting percentage and
Mikayla Greenwood added six. Pankey notched a double-double, tying
Madie Budd for the team lead in digs with 16.
Cheyanne Jockisch and
Emily Woods also had 10 digs apiece.
Elizabeth Ganley dished out 43 assists.
Tomorrow will present another huge opportunity for Illinois College as the Lady Blues welcome in St. Norbert College (5-13, 2-1 MWC) at 12 p.m.
