Illinois volleyball exceeded everyone’s expectations in head coach Chris Tamas’ first season in Champaign. With a young team and first-year head coach, a tournament berth would have been good enough for most.
Instead, the Illini ended up in the Regional Semifinal and took a very Michigan State team to four sets.
Illinois got off to a good start in the first set and had 13 kills and a .242 hitting percentage, but five errors were too much to overcome in a narrow 25-23 loss.
The Illini were all over the Spartans in the second set, featuring 15 kills and only two errors.