CARLINVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College volleyball team won its fifth straight match on Tuesday night, dispatching Blackburn College, 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-19), to improve to 13-3 on the season.
Blackburn couldn't find an answer for Illinois College's offensive firepower. The Lady Blues hit .337 for the match and committed only seven errors. On the other side of the net, the Beavers had 18 attack errors and hit .162.
The first set was a bit of a struggle early on for Illinois College. After the Lady Blues looked to be wresting control away from Blackburn with a 19-14 lead, the Beavers strung together six consecutive points to take a 20-19 lead and force a timeout from the Lady Blues. Returning to action, IC tied the score on a
Rebecca Shields kill and took the lead for good on a Blackburn attack error. A
MacKenzie Heinz kill then extended the lead to 22-20. A service errors and two attack errors from the Beavers closed it out to give Illinois College the 1-0 advantage.
The Lady Blues turned in their best performance of the night in the second set. Blackburn managed to tie the score at 9-9, but it was all Illinois College after that.
Madison Klanke had three kills and
Cheyanne Jockisch added a pair of aces as IC reeled off seven straight points to take a 16-9 lead. Blackburn got back within five on a couple of occasions, but the Lady Blues were never troubled and scored five straight to end it, the last of which came on an ace from
Emily Woods.
Blackburn started the third set fast and Illinois College was forced into a timeout trailing 12-8. The lead grew to 13-8 before a service error opened the door for IC. With
Brooke Brandis on serve, the Lady Blues scored five more in a row to take a 14-13 edge. The match remained tight until 16-16, when
Ali Pankey helped put it away with a kill and an ace to take a 19-16 lead. With the score 23-19, kills from Klanke and Pankey ended it to clinch the sweep.
Klanke ended the night with a match-high 10 kills. Pankey added eight and both Heinz and
Maddie Ramsey had six.
Elizabeth Ganley, hours removed from her MWC Defensive Performer of the Week honors, had 35 assists. Jockisch had match highs with 13 digs and four aces.
Midwest Conference play resumes for Illinois College with a 7 p.m. match at St. Norbert College on Oct. 5.
