Nebraska beat Illinois just under three weeks ago (19 days) in three sets. The Huskers beat them soundly, 25-21, 25-15, 25-19. Nebraska led in almost every statistical category. The only big area Illinois won statistically was by earning 9 blocks compare to Nebraska’s 5.
However, Illinois is playing much stronger than there were mid-October. They are spreading the offense more, for one. During the October match, the majority of the sets that went to the outside hitters.
Raina Terry took 42 swings which is just under 50% of what the total team took. Last weekend against Penn State (Illinois won in four), however, Terry took just 30% of the swings, a workload that is much more manageable for an outside hitter.