Illinois posted its second straight sweep over a conference opponent tonight when it defeated Purdue in straight games by the score of 30-18, 30-28, 33-31. With the victory, Illinois improves to 11-11 on the season and 5-8 in the Big Ten, while Purdue falls to 11-15 overall and 1-12 in the conference.
The Illini were dominant throughout the match, outhitting Purdue .326-to-.183 on the evening and enjoying a 62-46 advantage in kills. Illinois' .326 hitting ranks as the team's highest attack percentage of the season. The Illini finished with 62 kills and just 16 errors in 141 swings. Illinois' 16 errors matched a season-low for the team. The Illini also outblocked the Boilermakers 10-3.
Leading the way for the Illini was the brilliant performance by junior middle blocker Shelly O'Bryan. O'Bryan tallied a match-high 15 kills, just one shy of her career high. O'Bryan had no hitting errors in 22 swings, recording a career-high hitting percentage of .682. That performance ranks as the second-best by an Illini player this season.
"Shelly's been very aggressive lately," Head Coach Don Hardin said. "She's been almost unstoppable on the slide, and that's a tribute to how hard she and Betsy Eiserman have been working on it the past couple of weeks. They are really in a rhythm and connecting well on the slide."
Illinois had three other players join O'Bryan in double figures in kills. The Illini's other middle blocker, freshman Rachel VanMeter, nearly equaled O'Bryan's production. VanMeter had a season-high 13 kills on .417 hitting. She also had a season-high eight blocks, which ties the most blocks by an Illini player this season.
Left side hitters Jessica Belter (11 kills) and Rasa Virsilaite (10 kills) also reached double figures in the match. Sophomore libero Lauren Harks led the Illini defensively tallying a team-high 15 digs, her 13th match of the season in double figures.
Illinois held Purdue's top two players in check for the majority of the evening. Joanna Lowry, who entered the match leading the Boilermakers with an average of nearly four kills per game, finished the match with just 10. And Purdue's Kim McConaha, who ranked fifth in the Big Ten in hitting percentage at .355 on the season, hit just .214 with only 10 kills against the Illini.
"This is a big road win. 3-0 victories are rare in the Big Ten, and we've now got two of them in a row," Hardin said. "This team has some chemistry right now and is starting to click. We'll need to carry that momentum over to this weekend."
Next up for the Illini is a road trip to 14th-ranked Penn State. The Illini will face the Nittany Lions on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. Central Time.
