By: Ali Pankey was unstoppable for Illinois College, recording the most kills in a match by an IC player since 2010.
Box Score
GALESBURG, Ill. – The Illinois College volleyball team picked a good night to have its best offensive performance of the season, opening up Midwest Conference action with a 3-1 win (25-16, 25-18, 25-27, 25-10) over Knox College on Wednesday night. IC improved to 6-9 (1-0 MWC), while the Prairie Fire fell to 9-9 (0-1 MWC).
Sophomore
Ali Pankey was unstoppable on the night with 25 kills, tied for third all-time in program history for kills in a single match. After having eight through the first two sets, she recorded nine in the third set and then had eight with a .700 hitting percentage in the fourth set to close the match out for the Lady Blues. Her 25 kills were the most by an Illinois College player since Courtney Sweatman had 25 in a five-set win over Grinnell College on Sept. 26, 2010.
A trio of big runs put Illinois College on top after the first set. With the score tied at 2-2,
Kori Hayes started a four-point spurt for the Lady Blues that was bookended by a
Maddie Ramsey kill to make it 6-2. After two Knox points made it 6-4, IC scored six straight which included a pair of aces from Hayes and two Pankey kills. The closest the Prairie Fire would get after that was four points, but another four-point run keyed by a
Rebecca Shields kill and ace stretched the advantage to 20-12. The Lady Blues scored the last three points of the set for good measure, with Pankey supplying two kills for the 25-16 victory.
The second set was closer by the end, but Illinois College was no less dominant. The Lady Blues went ahead, 16-7, and had their first set point at 24-14 before the Prairie Fire scored four points in a row to make the 25-18 final look a little better on the surface. Hayes led IC with four kills in the set while Pankey, Ramsey and Shields all had three kills apiece.
Illinois College scored eight of the first 10 points in the third set and a sweep looked to be on the table before the Prairie Fire climbed back into it. The Lady Blues led, 23-20, until Knox scored four in a row to earn a set point at 24-23. Pankey tied it at 24-24 and later a service error by Knox would tie the set at 25-25 before consecutive kills by Natalie Weldon and Rose Griffin forced a fourth set.
The Lady Blues would not make the same mistake twice, never letting their foot off the gas in the fourth set. Illinois College hit an incredible .560 as a team in the set, recording 16 kills on 25 attacks with just two errors along the way. Pankey had half of those kills by herself, including six of the final nine IC kills in the match. Knox used two timeouts in the set to no avail, stopping action with the scores at 11-3 and 17-4, but the Lady Blues kept swinging and finding holes in the Prairie Fire defense. The match-clinching kill belonged to senior
Mikayla Greenwood to put the finishing touches on a 25-10 drubbing.
In addition to her 25 kills, Pankey had a double-double, tying
Madie Budd for the team high in digs with 13. She also had two aces. Ramsey had 11 kills and two solo blocks on the night, while both Hayes and Shields had nine kills. Hayes led IC with four aces and added 11 digs while Shields also had two aces.
Elizabeth Ganley had 53 assists – tied for fourth all-time in a single match – and made it a double-double with 10 digs.
Midwest Conference play continues on Sept. 30 when the Lady Blues venture to Lawrence University for a 12 p.m. match in Appleton, Wis.
