Rosemont, Ill. - Illinois took home two of five Big Ten weekly volleyball honors this afternoon after key road wins at Iowa (3-2) and No. 13 Nebraska (3-1). Junior Alexis Viliunas was named Big Ten Setter of the Week, while sophomore middle Katie Stadick blocked her way to Co-Defensive Player of the Week. The pair of honors increase Illinois' total to six Big Ten weekly awards this season.

Viliunas took over sole setting duties on Oct. 11 after teaming up with Allison Palmer in the 6-2 for the first 16 matches of the season, and after her first full week in the role, Viliunas takes home her first career Big Ten Setter of the Week award. It is her second overall weekly honor, as the La Grange, Illinois, native earned Freshman of the Week honors on Oct. 15, 2012, for leading Illinois back from an 0-2 deficit to a five-set victory at Michigan State in her first career appearance. Viliunas led the Big Ten with an average of 12.22 assists, totaling 110, in the Illini's pair of road victories. She posted 54 assists, seven digs, four blocks, two kills and a service ace in the Illini's five-set win at Iowa, then topped that performance with 56 assists, six digs, four blocks and three kills in Illinois' 3-1 upset of Nebraska--Illinois' second-ever win in Lincoln in program history.

Stadick earned her first career Big Ten award after leading the conference with 19 blocks, averaging 2.11 per set, while helping the Illini to lead the Big Ten with 3.78 blocks per set (34 total) on the week. She posted a career-high 11 blocks at Iowa, helping the Orange and Blue record their most blocks in a match since 2002 with 20.0, as well as tying their all-time program record with 38 block assists. Stadick then went on to stuff eight blocks in the Illini's big win at No. 13 Nebraska on Saturday. Her defensive effort helped the Illini hold their opponents to just a .187 hitting percentage on the week, including limiting Iowa to .146. In addition to her net performance, Stadick tallied 11 kills and four digs on the week. After her prolific week, Stadick leads the Big Ten and ranks 19th in the nation with 1.40 blocks per set on the season.

Players from Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin collected the remaining three weekly honors today. Michigan middle blocker Abby Cole was named Big Ten Player of the Week, while Wisconsin libero Taylor Morey shared Defensive Player of the Week honors with Stadick, and MSU setter Rachel Minarick claimed her first Freshman of the Week Award.

Cole helped guide the Wolverines to straight-set wins at Rutgers and Maryland. She hit .617 and averaged 5.5 kills per set, including slamming 21 against the Scarlet Knights. Minarick led the Spartans to 3-0 victories at Maryland and Rutgers, posting 33 assists in each match to go along with a total of 11 digs. Morey's potent defense in the back row paced the Badgers to a pair of straight-set victories over No. 23 Minnesota. The junior libero tallied 24 digs on Wednesday night, then added 20 on Saturday to average 7.3 per set while recording three aces and no reception errors.

Illinois concluded its difficult road stretch on Saturday at Nebraska and returns home for a pair of weekend matches on Oct. 24-25. The No. 10 Illini will put on the annual Breast Cancer Awareness match against Indiana at 7 p.m. on Friday night and will then square off with No. 13 Purdue at 5 p.m. on Saturday night with a chance to knock the Boilermakers (17-3, 6-1 Big Ten) out of first place in the Big Ten standings.