The Illinois volleyball team came up just short in forcing a decisive fifth set as the Illini suffered a 3-1 (18-25, 16-25, 27-25, 31-33) setback to No. 19 Creighton in its final match at the Bluejay Invitational on Saturday (September 11) morning in D.J. Sokol Arena.

Graduate Student Megan Cooney registered her seventh-career double-double and third of the season to pace the Illini (5-3) with 17 kills on a .267 hitting percentage to go along with a career-high 17 digs, while sophomore Raina Terry added her eighth-career double-double with 13 kills and 12 blocks in the match.

Redshirt-junior Diana Brown joined the duo with her 28th-career double-double and fourth of the season as she passed out 39 assists, while also turning in 15 digs and two blocks.

On the defensive side, senior Taylor Kuper had a standout match as she equaled her career-high with 29 digs to go along with six assists and two service aces. At the net, junior Kennedy Collins led the Illini with four blocks on the day.

After an Illini point opened the match, the host Bluejays (8-1) raced out to an early 12-3 advantage, before back-to-back Cooney kills started 6-3 UI run to close within 15-9 following a Brown solo stuff. A pair of Terry kills brought the Illini to within 16-11, but CU responded with back-to-back scores of their own to slow the Illinois momentum. After a pair of CU attack errors again cut the deficit to five at 18-13, the Bluejays pushed the edge to 21-13 on three-straight scores. Trailing 22-14, the Illini strung together four unanswered point to close within 22-18 on a Collins attack, but CU finished off the 25-18 set with three-straight points of their own.    

It was a back-and-forth start in the second until the Bluejays broke an 8-8 tie with three-straight scores to take an 11-8 advantage. From there the two teams traded runs as the Illini battled back with a Terry kill bringing the visitors within two at 13-11. Creighton then used a 4-0 run to push its lead to 17-11. The Illini would close within 18-14 on a Collins and Cooney block and a CU attack error, but three unanswered points from the home team moved the deficit back to 21-14. After trading points over the next three plays, Creighton closed out the 25-16 set with three-straight scores to take a 2-0 advantage in the match.

In another tight beginning to the third, the Bluejays were the first to take a significant lead at 11-6 with four-straight scores. The Illini responded with their own 5-0 run to force CU into a timeout with the stanza tied at 11-11. Out of the break, the home team pushed forward with a 5-2 run to take a 17-14 edge, but the Illini stormed back with five-straight scores – highlighted by three Cooney points on a pair of kills and block with redshirt-freshman Maddie Whittington – to grab a 19-17 advantage and force a second CU timeout. The Bluejays then scored on the next three of four rallies to knot the set at 20-20, but the Illini answered back with kills from junior Jessica Nunge and Cooney and a Collins and Nunge block for the 23-20 advantage, before earning set point at 24-22 following a Nunge kill. Back-to-back Creighton points then tied things up at 24-24 as the Illini took a timeout. With the scored tied again at 25-25, Brown won a joust at the net to set up set point at 26-25 and the Illini went on to take the third, 27-25 after a CU attack error.  

A Bruder ace put the Illini up 6-4 early in the fourth, but a 4-0 run from the Bluejays flipflopped the lead in favor of the home team at 8-6. Another back-to-back CU kills pushed the Illini deficit to 11-8, but the visitors took the next three of four points to move within one at 12-11. After back-to-back kills from CU pushed the score to 14-11, Illinois called timeout and came out of the break taking the next two points to get within one at 14-13. With Creighton again leading by one at 15-14, the home team used an 8-2 run to go ahead at 23-16. Despite the deficit, the Illini fought all the way back to take a 24-23 lead following an 8-0 run, with seven points coming on the serve of Kuper. From there, the two teams battled with eight ties over the course of next several plays until Creighton broke the final tie at 31-31 with a kill, followed by an Illini attack error to take the fourth, 33-31, and the match, 3-1.