This Week in Illini Athletics: September 19-25, 2022

Sep 19, 2022 - 1:05 PM

Welcome to “This Week in Illini Athletics,” a weekly review of the past week of Illini sports and a preview of the week to come.

Football (2-1 Overall, 0-1 Big Ten)

This Week: The football team coming off its bye week has a date with the Chattanooga Mocs on Thursday.

Read more about Illini’s opponent here:

Women’s Soccer (5-3-1 Overall, 0-1 Big Ten)

Last Week: Women’s soccer played one match last week and it was to open its Big Ten schedule. The Illini matched up against Michigan State last Sunday.

• vs. Michigan State - The match started out with shots flying left and right, as a total of seven shots were taken in the first 10 minutes. Both teams were able to eventually settle down as halftime came and went with no score. To start out the 2nd half, the Illini were caught on their heels as the aggressive Spartans broke the scoreless tie in the 47th minute. Michigan State was still not satisfied as they scored 3 minutes later, and by the time the Illini could blink the score was already 2-0 in favor of the Spartans. It did not stop there for MSU, in the 58th minute the sailed another ball into the back of the net. Although the Illini tried to make a late push, the deficient was too much to overcome.

Final: Michigan State 3, Illinois 0

This Week: Illini will be looking to bounce back against in their conference schedule with matches against Maryland and Penn State.

#25 Volleyball (5-5 Overall, 0-0 Big Ten)

Last Week: Ouch. The volleyball team took a step forward but took two steps back after losing against...

• at Eastern Illinois - The Illini traveled an hour over to Charleston, Illinois to take on the Panthers. The first set was dominated by the Illini from the tip, behind Jessica Nunge’s 4 kills. The second set was a back & forth affair with both squads trading points left and right. With the Illini down 20-16, they were able to take the set after winning 7 of the last 10 points. The 3rd and deciding set was knotted up at 22, but Illini were able to pull away and take the match

Set 1: Illinois 25 - Eastern 15

Set 2: Illinois 25 - Eastern 23

Set 3: Illinois 25 - Eastern 22

Final: Illinois 3 - Eastern 0

• at Illinois State - This was game 1 of a double header for the volleyball team. The Illini came out of the gate a little sluggish and the Redbirds capitalize taking the opening set. The Redbird rode off their early momentum and started off the second set on a 4-0 run. The Illini fought back however, but ended up dropping the 2nd set. The Illini were finally able to get their feet under them as they dominated the third set. With the Illini against the ropes, they were able win the 4th set and take the match to a deciding 5th set. But after Illinois State took an early 5 point lead, it was to much for the Illini to mount a comeback.

Set 1: Illinois 20, Illinois St. 25

Set 2: Illinois 21, Illinois St. 25

Set 3: Illinois 25, Illinois St. 13

Set 4: Illinois 25, Illinois St. 23

Set 5: Illinois 9, Illinois St. 15

Final: Illinois 2, Illinois St. 3

• at Marquette - The opening set was a game of some massive runs, including a 5 point run by Marquette, the Illini were able to preserve however as they took the set. Marquette was able to answer the Illini taking the 2nd set. The Illini in the third went on a massive run mid-way through the set, scoring 10 out of 11 points, which elevated the Illini to a win of the 3rd set. Marquette was able to answer again, taking the match to a deciding 5th set. Marquette was able to contain the Illini however, as they were able to win the match.

Set 1: Illinois 25, Marquette 23

Set 2: Illinois 20, Marquette 25

Set 3: Illinois 25, Marquette 13

Set 4: Illinois 19, Marquette 25

Set 5: Illinois 11, Marquette 15

Final: Illinois 2, Marquette 3

This Week: The Volleyball team looks to bounce back against Big Ten opponents Maryland and Northwestern.

Women’s Golf

Last Week: Illini women’s golf team traveled to Charleston, South Carolina, to participate in the Cougar Classic. Illinois overall finished tied for 12th place, and was headlined by Crystal Wang who finished tied for 13th overall, shot 3 under ending with a card of 210. Lexanne Halama had an impressive first round shooting a 67, lowest of her career and lowest out of all Illini rounds.

This Week: The Illini will head to the Schooner Fall Classic at the Belmar Golf Club in Norman, Oklahoma on Sept. 24-26.

#11 Men’s Golf

Last Week: The golf team had the task of hosting the Fighting Illini Invitational against some of the top golf programs in the nation. And they proved they can stick with the best of them. The Illini finished the tournament as the runners-up to #15 Stanford by two strokes. Adrien Dumont de Chassart led the field for majority of the tournament, and finished second shooting -6. He was complimented by Tommy Kuhl who finished 5th shooting -4.

This Week: They will take the week off before heading up to Michigan State to compete in the Folds of Honor Collegiate.

Men’s Tennis

Last Week: Illinois took on the task of competing in the Knoxville Showdown, at the University of Tennessee. Day 1 saw the Illini pick up four wins (2 double, 2 single) against representatives of MTSU, Columbia, & North Carolina. Day 2 was much of the same for the Illini as they picked up three wins (1 double, 2 singles) behind the efforts of Oliver Okonkwo, Mathis Debru, and Nic Meister. During the final day, the Illini were able to take all three single matches to close out the busy weekend.

This Week: Alex Petrov and Hunter Heck will compete in the ITF Fayetteville Futures from Sept. 19-25, with the Bobby Bayliss Invitational will be on Sept. 23-25 hosted by Notre Dame.

Women’s Tennis

Last Week: The Wahoow Invitational is where the Illini competed this past week in Virginia. Kate Duong, Josie Frazier, Megan Heuser and Ashley Yeah all made the trip, and man did the dominate. The weekend saw the Illini combine for 15-3 record overall with 5-1 record in doubles and 10-2 in singles.

This Week: The Illini will be hosting the UTR College Circuit in Champaign of Saturday.

Cross Country

Last Week: Both men’s and women’s cross country teams take the top spot at Indiana State. The men were headlined by Senior Jack Roberts who placed sixth (24:36.5), followed by freshman Brady Masters in eighth (24:39). For the Illini women, Emma Milburn finished third (17:30.5), followed by sophomore Halle Hill in fifth (17:33.8).

This Week: Cross Country takes the week off before they head to Missouri.

Softball

This Week: The Illini will start their fall circuit with four games over the weekend. They will face off against regional juco’s Lakeland, Wabash Valley, UIC, and Parkland College.