EVANSTON, Ill. – Behind double digit kill outings from sophomore Jacqueline Quade and redshirt-sophomore Beth Prince, the Illinois volleyball team moved its win streak to five match with a straight-sets (25-23, 25-19, 25-13) victory over Northwestern in a hot and humid Beardsley Gym at Evanston Township High School on Saturday (September 23) night.
The Illini improve to 11-2 and 2-0 in the Big Ten and have won their last eight sets dating back to a come-from-behind win over Missouri State last Saturday.
Quade and Prince paced the Illini with 11 kills each, while junior Jordyn Poulter notched 33 assists en route to a team hitting percentage of .405, including hitting over .400 in the first and third sets.
After the two teams traded scores to start the match, the Illini grabbed an early 12-8 advantage following a block from freshman Megan Cooney and junior Ali Bastianelli block. The Wildcats (10-4, 0-2) responded with seven unanswered points – including three of their five aces on the night – to propel the home team to a 15-12 lead. The Illini came back to knot the score at 17-17 on a Prince kill as the two teams battled it out over the next several points. With the score tied at 22-22, a NU service error combined with a Quade kill gave the Illini set point, before another NU serve went lone and UI took the opener, 25-23.
On the serve of senior Brandi Donnelly, the Illini broke a 4-4 tie in the second with six-straight points for a 10-4 advantage. The Illini continued to control the set as junior Blayke Hranicka's serve was too much for the Wildcats to handle and put Illinois up 16-10 midway through the period. Back-to-back NU aces closed the gap to 18-15, but a Prince kill slowed the momentum for the home team. After another kill brought the Wildcats to within 21-19, the Illini answered with four-straight points – capped by another Cooney and Bastianelli stuff – to take the second, 25-19.
It was all Illini out of the break as a Quade service ace put UI up 7-2 early in the third. The Illini then used an 8-2 run, including a pair of stuffs from Cooney and Hranicka, to push out its edge to 16-6, before an NU attack error made it 20-10. Illinois then closed out the three-set victory with three-straight points for a dominating 25-13 win in the third.
Defensively, Illinois held the Wildcats to a .168 attack percentage, with Donnelly leading the way with 11 digs. The Illini totaled seven blocks, with Cooney and Hranicka each posted four and Bastianelli adding three in the win.
While both team had five service aces, the Wildcats were also hampered by 11 service errors.
The Illini wrap up their Big Ten Conference-opening road swing with a trip to the northeast, facing No. 2 Penn State in University Park, Pa., on Friday (September 29) at 6:30 p.m. CT, before taking on Rutgers in a Sunday (October 1) match at 11 a.m., in New Brunswick, N.J.
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