LLCC won a marathon 2 hour, 30 minute match against #16 Illinois Central at Illinois Central in front of a full, rowdy Peoria crowd 25-22, 21-25, 19-25, 25-20, 17-15 to raise the Logger record to 27-5.
 
The first two games were nip and tuck as neither team enjoyed more than a two point lead in game one until the final point, and game two was the same way with neither team leading by more than three.  Game three saw two strings of LLCC errors and five kills by the ICC outside hitters to give ICC a 25-19 victory.  Game 4 saw ICC take a 11-7 lead, looking to close out the contest with the Loggers fighting back to take a 16-13 lead when a bang-bang play took place and after officials consulted, LLCC was awarded the point and went on to win 25-20.
 
Game five was worth the price of admission by itself as Illinois Central built a quick 7-3 lead around an ace, two blocks, and an LLCC hitting error before the Loggers found some steam, catching up with a run of Talesha Scott kills and defense by Kendall Knop and Izzy Carroll to tie it at 10.  From there the teams traded points to 15-15 when the Loggers finally scored behind clutch serves by Brook McKinney and a thunderous final kill by Tiffany Sunderlin.
     
         Izzy Carroll and Kendall Knop were key in win.

"I'm totally drained," Coach Dietz said.  "That was intense, basically postseason ball in October.  Honestly, I worried when we fell down after game three and that's just stupid of me--this team never gives up.  The key at the end was that Izzy and Kendall really made an adjustment I'd wanted us to do for the first four games and it paid off--then we had a great night hitting from Talesh.   Now we finish off the region schedule Saturday at Parkland vs. Frontier and Lincoln Trail."


LLCC wins 25-22, 21-25, 19-25, 25-20, 17-15
Record: 27-5
NEXT: SAT @ Parkland vs. Frontier College and Lincoln Trail College
 
Digs: Knop 20, Carroll 19
Aces: Carroll 1, Perinar 1
Blocks: Ohlsen 3, Scott 2
Assists: Wienke 25, Mueller 20
Kills: Scott 18, Sunderlin 16