clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

This Week in Illinois Athletics: Soccer wins 5th straight, Rayfield's 200th victory

The No. 9 Fighting Illini volleyball team were upset at the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge, women's soccer won their fifth straight and head coach Janet Rayfield earned her 200th victory, men's cross-country fell on the West Coast, and Jared Hiltzik competed at the US Open.

By Brandon M. Cain
Illini soccer won their fifth straight and head coach Janet Rayfield earned her 200th win.
Illini soccer won their fifth straight and head coach Janet Rayfield earned her 200th win.
University of Illinois Athletics

Welcome to a new series: This Week in Illinois Athletics. Each week this series will serve as an update on how Illinois' Olympic and non-renevnue sports fare each week: who is ranked, what each sport's season-long and weekly record, and which Illini athletes are making headlines.

Volleyball

The Pac-12 pulled out a pair of upsets starting with No. 2 Stanford taking down No. 1 Penn State in five sets and UCLA followed with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-22) victory over the Illini (3-2) on Friday night at the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge to hand Kevin Hambly's side their first loss of the season.

Stanford knocked out the Illini with a 3-2, (25-22, 19-25, 20-25, 25-22, 15-12) win Sunday afternoon. The Illini travel to Murfreesboro, Tenn. to compete in the Blue Raider Bash this weekend.

Soccer

The Illini (5-1-0) earned their fourth straight win with two wins, 3-0 over College of Charleston and 3-1 against UAB at the College of Charleston Tournament in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

Three different Illini in junior Regan Robishaw, sophomore Allison Stucky, and freshman Kara Marbury found the back of the net, while freshman goalkeeper Claire Wheatley recorded her first solo shutout on the year.

Head coach Janet Rayfield earned her 200th win in the shutout as well.

Another trio of Illini scored against UAB: redshirt senior Jannelle Flaws, junior Amy Feher, and freshman Emily Osoba. UAB only had two shots in the game, sending the first one past Wheatley in the 12th minute.

The Illini look to continue their streak this week on the road at Iowa on Thursday and Nebraska on Sunday.

Men's Tennis

Illini junior Jared Hiltzik dropped straight sets to Clay Thompson (UCLA), 6-3, 6-4, Thursday mooring in the inaugural American Collegiate Invitational at the United States Open.

Hiltzik served as an alternate selection for Mitchell Frank (Virginia) in the eight-player field. Hiltzik will join the Illini on Sept. 19, when they open their season at the eighth annual Olympia Fields Country Club Fighting Illini Invitational.

Men's Cross-Country

Paul Zeman led the Illini with a time of 19:54.24 over the four-mile course for fourth overall, but the team fell 19-36 to Portland on Saturday.

Zeman's performance followed up his 6K time of 18:43 for second place to lead the Illini to a two-point victory over Missouri for the team's 10th straight Illini Challenge victory on Aug. 29.

Jannis Toepfer finished right on Zeman's heels with a 19:55.83 in his season debut. Will Brewster (20:16.21), Ian Barnett (20:19.80), and Garrett Lee (20:23.05) rounded out the top five Illini times.

Follow The Champaign Room on Twitter at @Champaign_Room and Like us on Facebook. You can follow Brandon Cain on Twitter at @BrandonMCain