Burbage Shines in Illini Debut as Illinois Drops Opener to No. 9 Georgia Tech

Oxford, Miss. – No. 17 Illinois volleyball fell in straight sets to No. 9 Georgia Tech at the Ole Miss Invitational to open the 2022 campaign. Kayla Burbage – a transfer from Missouri – delivered an 11-kill, .450-hitting clip debut for the Illini from the Gillom Athletics Performance Center.

Illinois moved to 4-1 all-time against Georgia Tech following the first meeting in the 21^st century. The Illini are now 38-11 all-time in season openers, including a 5-1 mark under head coach Chris Tamas.

Jessica Nunge struck for a kill to open the season for the Illini before Georgia Tech pushed out to a quick 8-4 lead to force an early Illinois timeout. Out of the break, the Orange and Blue posted a 4-0 run to knot the score before the Yellow Jackets would hit double digits first. The Illini used their second stoppage of the frame trailing 18-13 before battling back within two at 23-21 to force a Tech stoppage following a combined block by Kayla Burbage and Kyla Swanson. Georgia Tech would score two quick points to win the first set 25-21.

Georgia Tech led wire-to-wire in set two. The Illini would take a timeout trailing 15-8 midway through the frame but couldn’t slow down the Yellow Jacket attack. Georgia Tech operated at a .591 to the Illini’s .308 rate. Late in the frame, Brooke Mosher would strike for the first kill of her Illinois career.

Illinois came out of the break and struck first in the third frame, owning several early leads. Georgia Tech broke a 9-9 tie with a point to hit double digits first but a block assist from Line Terry and Kennedy Collins evened things right back up. A Kyla Swanson kill tied the frame at 15-15 but the Yellow Jackets would strike for the next three points to pull ahead late. GT closed the frame on a 7-1 run to claim the match with the 25-17 victory.

Third set action featured 15 ties and five lead changes to bring the match’s total to 20 and eight, respectively.

Diana Brown registered the 41^st double double of her career, dishing out 29 assists and a team-best 10 digs. Burbage teamed up with Brown to deliver 11 kills on 20 swings for a .450 hitting clip in her Illini debut.

Line Terry and Jessica Nunge each added seven kills for the Orange and Blue while Swanson and Collins both collected five. Swanson operated at a .556 hitting percentage, taking nine errorless swings.

At the net, Collins recorded three blocks – one solo – while Terry added two.

Illinois will close weekend action with a 1 p.m. CT match against weekend host Ole Miss on Sunday. The Rebels fell in four sets to Georgia Tech on Friday night.

Notes:

– Starters: Kennedy Collins, Diana Brown, Kyla Swanson, Kayla Burbage, Caroline Barnes, Line Terry, Jessica Nunge

– Last time Illini opened season against a ranked opponent was 2019 at No. 19 Tennessee, a five-set win. Illinois was ranked sixth at the time.

– Illinois is now 38-11 in all-time season openers.

– Teams went back to switching benches between sets for the first time since 2019.

– Illinois was one of three Big Ten teams in a Top-25 matchup this weekend.