JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College volleyball team had an easy time of it in the first set, but the rest of the match was a struggle against a tough MacMurray College team. By turning in a match-high hitting percentage of .545 in the fifth and deciding set, the Lady Blues were able to escape with a 3-2 win (25-16, 17-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-11) over the Highlanders in the Set, Serve and Rally for a Cure match at Sherman Gymnasium. The victory improves IC to 17-6 overall on the season.
The first set would not be a true look at what was to come in the match. Behind a large home crowd, the Lady Blues burst out to a 5-1 lead, but MacMurray would later come back to tie it at 14-14. A block from
Ali Pankey and
Abbie Horstmann followed by a Pankey kill made it 16-14, prompting a Highlander timeout. It did no good as the Lady Blues made it six points in a row to go up 20-14 and eventually recorded a 25-16 victory with
Madison Klanke getting two of the final three points in the set.
A 6-1 start to the second set made it seem like it would be all Illinois College on the night. The Lady Blues maintained their lead all the way to 11-6, but MacMurray suddenly caught fire and scored nine of the next 10 points to take a 15-12 lead on IC. With help from nine Illinois College attack errors, the Highlanders raced ahead and never looked back in a 25-17 victory to knot the match at 1-1.
The third set played out in reverse as this time it was MacMurray's turn to build a big early cushion. The Highlanders led by a score of 7-1 before a four-point rally from Illinois College that included two kills from
Brenna Dameris and a
Madie Budd ace. MacMurray maintained a lead all the way to 17-15 before a five-point swing from IC which included two Horstmann kills turned the tide. The Highlanders would repeatedly get within a point the rest of the way, but couldn't knot the score. Facing a 24-22 deficit, a service error by the visitors gift-wrapped a 2-1 lead for the Lady Blues.
Though Pankey registered six kills and nine digs in the fourth set alone, Illinois College wasn't able to deal with MacMurray's Kamryn Flesner and her whopping eight kills in the set. The Highlanders had 19 kills total in the set and held on despite giving up six straight points to the Lady Blues in the closing stages. Olivia Wall had the final two MacMurray points to send the match to a fifth and final set.
Both teams came to play in the fifth and the squads traded side-outs for the first 10 points of the set, leaving it level at 5-5. Even after IC scored three straight to take an 8-5 edge, MacMurray responded to the challenge and eventually pulled even at 10-10. When it mattered most, Illinois College came up with the plays it needed. Kills from Pankey,
Elizabeth Ganley and Horstmann made it 13-10. A block from Pankey and Horstmann followed to give IC its first match point at 14-10. Though one final kill from Flesner kept the Highlanders alive for a short time, Horstmann had the final point of the night to seal the victory.
Pankey ended her night with team highs of 20 kills and 23 digs. Dameris and Horstmann each had 17 kills apiece and Klanke also reached double-digits in kills with 10. Ganley recorded the second-most assists in a single match in IC history with 64 to go along with 13 digs. Budd had 18 digs and Dameris tacked on another 11. Flesner was a one-woman show for the Highlanders with 27 kills on the night.
Midwest Conference play wraps this weekend for IC with back-to-back matches on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. The Lady Blues host Grinnell College on Friday night at 7 p.m. with Volleyween happening in the Bruner Center Concourse from 6 to 7 p.m. Trick-or-treaters are encouraged to attend the match and there will be a best costume contest during the night.
