CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – With over 3,600 fans in attendance, including 40 Illinois volleyball alumni, the Fighting Illini volleyball team dominated Rutgers in a 3-0 (25-8, 25-12, 25-16) landslide on Saturday night at Huff Hall.
With the win, the Illini improve to 18-9 and 9-7 in the Big Team, while the Scarlett Knights drop to 4-24 and 1-15 in conference play.
"I thought we were pretty efficient to start," said head coach Kevin Hambly. "I thought we passed well at the beginning, got our middles involved, and they did not make errors. They blocked us a few times, and those were the few hitting errors we had in the first two sets. We defended well and made it tough on them."
After an early 2-2 tie in the opening set, the Illini put together a 15-0 run - including 14 points on the serve of senior Ali Stark - to take a commanding 17-2 lead. After back-to-back RU points, UI finished off the first with a 8-4 run as redshirt-senior Jocelynn Birks slammed a kill to give the Illini a 25-8 win.
The Orange and Blue continued where they left off by scoring the first six points in set two en route to building an 11-2 advantage. The Knight would not get closer than eight as the Illini cruised to a 22-9 lead, before three-straight UI blocks from freshman Ali Bastianelli, junior Naya Crittenden and Birks sent the Illini to the 25-12 victory.
Unlike the match's first two sets, the third proved to be competitive in the early goings with RU jumping out to an 8-5 lead. The Illini responded with a 5-2 mini run, including three-straight points to even the score at 10-10. From there, UI finished the set on a 15-6 run to earn the 25-16 set win and 3-0 match victory.
Birks led the way with her 10th double-double of the season and 52nd of her career with 10 kills and 10 blocks, while junior Katie Stadick notched nine kills on 18 swings for a .389 hitting percentage to go along with four blocks.
Bastianelli added seven kills on 11 swings for a .545 hitting percentage and five blocks, while Crittenden chipped in a team-high six blocks.
Freshman setter Jordyn Poulter collected 27 assists in the win, while senior Julia Conard finished with a team-high 17 digs.
As a team, the Illini posted a .318 hitting percentage and totaled five aces on the night.
Illinois continues its three-match home stand on Wednesday (Nov. 18) night when they host No. 11 Wisconsin in a BTN-televised match at 8 p.m. CT., in Huff Hall.
