ROSEMONT, Ill. – Illinois volleyball sophomore libero Brandi Donnelly earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors after helping the Fighting Illini to back-to-back wins over Northwestern this past week, the conference office announced on Monday (Nov. 9).

It is Donnelly's second career Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week accolade after collecting her first earlier this season on Aug. 28. The Illini have earned eight B1G weekly honors this season, including taking home back-to-back Defensive Player of the Week awards as freshman Ali Bastianelli was named Co-Defensive Player and Freshman of the Week last Monday.  

Donnelly and the No. 18 Fighting Illini put together a season sweep of Northwestern last week as the Orange and Blue notched a five-set win in Evanston on Wednesday, before taking down the Wildcats in four on Saturday in Huff Hall.

The sophomore libero paced the UI defense as she registered back-to-back 20-dig performances, opening with 24 against the Wildcats on Wednesday to go along with three assists and a service ace. She continued her strong play on Saturday by equaling her career-high with 26 digs and six assists in the win.

Donnelly has registered eight 20-dig outings this season and owns 18 in her Illini career. For the week, she totaled 50 digs to average 5.56 digs per set and registered a .972 reception percentage with only one receive error in 36 chances.

Donnelly and the Illini will next travel to Columbus, Ohio, to face off against No. 12 Ohio State on Wednesday (Nov. 11) at 5:30 p.m. CT in St. John Arena, before returning home to Huff Hall to take on Rutgers on Saturday (Nov. 14) at 7 p.m. Both matches will be available on BTN Plus.

Nov. 8 Big Ten Players of the Week
Player of the Week: Daly Santana, Minnesota
Defensive Player of the Week: Brandi Donnelly, Illinois
Setter of the Week: Lauren Carlini, Wisconsin
Co-Freshmen of the Week: Angel Gaskin, Maryland; Samantha Seliger-Swenson, Minnesota