JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College volleyball team needed just an hour flat to knock off Fontbonne University in Sherman Gymnasium on Tuesday night, sweeping the Griffins, 3-0 (25-10, 25-16, 25-10). With the win, the Lady Blues improve to 8-2 on the season.
It was a total team effort from beginning to end for Illinois College. The Lady Blues hit .370 as a team and were led by
Ali Pankey's 14 kills on the night.
Elizabeth Ganley had a double-double with 35 assists and 11 digs. In all, IC had 43 kills in the match compared to only 17 for Fontbonne.
In the first set, Illinois College scored three straight points on four separate occasions to take a 16-7 lead on the Griffins. With the score at 16-9, IC then rattled off seven straight with
Madison Klanke mixing in two aces to go along with three kills from Pankey and two from
Brenna Dameris for a commanding 23-9 advantage.
The Lady Blues were a little sloppier in the second set, making six attack errors and hitting a match-low .200 as a team. Nevertheless, Fontbonne couldn't keep pace with Illinois College. The only tie of the set came at 1-1 and IC then scored five straight with
Madie Budd on serve. The lead reached double-digits at 19-9 and even a small comeback from the Griffins couldn't make enough of a dent in the comfortable margin that the Lady Blues had built.
After going down 2-1 to start the third set, normal service resumed with Illinois College notching seven points in a row to take an 8-2 lead. Pankey had four kills in that stretch and teamed up with
Carlee Bale on a block as well. With the lead already well in hand, Budd made her way into the IC record book by recording three aces in the third set. With six aces on the night, she ended in the single-match Top 10 in program history and mixed in 10 digs and six assists for good measure.
After a weekend off from competition, Illinois College opens Midwest Conference play on Sept. 25, traveling to Galesburg, Ill. to face Knox College at 7 p.m.
