Fighting Illini cruise past to 3-2 victory against Trojans in semi-final: NCAA Volleyball
For the first time in the history of the school’s programme, the women’s volleyball team of Illinois University clawed its way to the final showdown of the NCAA Tournament. The Fighting Illini went up against University of South California (USC) in the crucial semi-final match on Thursday, December 15. Illini posted 3-2 (25-27, 25-18, 25-22, 18-25, 15-10) victory over Trojans and secured a spot in the final match of 2011 NCAA Tournament. The eye-catching action of volleyball was hosted by Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The Fighting Illini is now up for the final action against UCLA on Saturday.
Both finalist teams, Fighting Illini and UCLA, belong to Pacific-12 Conference, which holds the record of sending three teams into the national Finals so far.
Trojans and Fighting Illini met in the semi-finals of 2011 NCAA Tournament after a long break of 7 years. They last played a match in 2004 and there have been a total of five meetings between the two sides. With this particular victory, Illini holds a better record of winning three out of five matches against USC.
Colleen Ward proved her supremacy on the court and achieved 20th double-double of the season. She clipped 27 kills and dished out her career-high 22 digs. Illini’s victory was quite doubtful without Ward’s influential performance. Senior outside hitter Michelle Bartsch was equally active on the centre court. She also went into double-double with 22 kills and 22 digs. It marked her 19th double-double of the season.
Furthermore, setter Annie Luhrsen, Junior middle blocker Erin Johnson, and freshman right side Liz McMahon did a great job in pulling off success for Illini. Not to forget the instrumental role of sophomore libero Jennifer Beltran who led the team with 32 digs.
First point of the game was added by USC as Ward did not get the right direction to serve. It proved to be a bad start for Illini and they lagged behind in the opening set. Trojans came up with back to back attacks and directed the ball in rare gaps. They led the scores before Illini hit the equaliser at 11-all. However, USC hit a couple of points and went up. Again, the Illini fought back and chased the score. Opening set progressed in the same fashion and ended with USC’s better status, 27-25.
Fighting Illini strengthened the defence side and controlled the action at the net in the second set. They hit back aggressively and did not miss a single chance to score points. On the other hand, USC tried to retaliate in the same tone. Second set saw two ties, while Illini managed to overcome USC (25-18).
Third set was a total thriller, which featured 6 ties and 3 lead changes. Illini’s Ward and USC’s Alex Jupiter came into stride. The two players displayed incredible action and fought for their teams. However, Illini continued with success and captured third set by sending 25-22 on board. Meanwhile, USC bounced back in the game and created the dead-lock of 2-2 by winning fourth set (25-18).
The decisive final set of the game took centre stage and the packed-up arena echoed spectators’ noise. Both teams remained close but committed too many mistakes. There was no telling about the potential outcome of match until the last rally. Illini added a 5-0 run to finish off the final set (15-10) and hit the mark. The Fighting Illini won the match and qualified for the final match for the first time.
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