It took five sets, and now Illinois’ season is over
After sneaking into the NCAA Tournament with a 16-13 regular season record, the Illini battled the Utes (23-9) at BYU, but the valiant effort wasn’t enough (23-25, 26-24, 27-25, 23-25, 15-10).
A year after making the Final Four, the Illini’s season will come to an abrupt end with a a 16-14 mark.
In the second and third sets, the Illini tallied 32 total kills, but struggled mightily with a .091 hitting percentage in the fourth set. Down in the fifth set 9-8, the Utes finished a nice run to cap off the win.