CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 24 Illinois volleyball team earned a season-sweep of Northwestern as the Illini registered a straight-sets (25-11, 25-15, 25-22) win over the Wildcats on Hail to the Orange Night at Huff Hall on Saturday (Oct. 15) night.
The Illini push their record to 13-6 and 6-2 in the Big Ten, while the Wildcats drop to 7-13 and 0-8 in the league standings.
"It's a win," said head coach Kevin Hambly. "We are grateful to get them, we will move on and get to work. This has been a tough run here, We have gone four weeks [with] Wednesday/Saturday matches, and I cannot wait to get in the gym and work on some details."
Senior Michelle Strizak and freshman Jacqueline Quade paced the Illini with nine kills each, while sophomore Ali Bastianelli totaled a match-high 10 blocks on the night.
The Illini were dominate in the opening set, scoring the first three points of the match, before using a 6-1 run to take a 9-4 lead. The Wildcats closed within 14-10, but six-straight points gave the Illini control of the first as the Orange and Blue finished on a 10-1 run to take the opener, 25-11.
It was a back-and-forth start to the second as the Illini led by one at 8-7, but four-straight points, capped by a kill from senior Katie Stadick pushed the edge to 12-7. Another four-straight points later in the stanza then made it 18-11 in favor of the home team. Leading at 22-15, the Illini took advantage of three-straight Wildcat errors to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Illini continued their strong play into third and scored the first five points of the set en route to an 8-2 lead. Northwestern fought back to close within 15-14, but the Illini responded with a 6-1 run, including five-straight points – four on the serve of senior Danielle Davis – to grab a 21-15 advantage. After a Bastianelli kill pushed the lead to 22-16, the Wildcats stormed back with four-straight points to cut the deficit to two at 22-20. Back-to-back kills from Quade and Stadick gave the Illini set point at 24-20, but the Wildcats fought of the first two before a Quade kill finished of the match with the 25-22 set victory.
The Illini defense controlled much of the match as the Orange and Blue held NU to a -.008 hitting percentage, including a -.022 clip in the first and a -.133 mark in the second set. Illinois also outblocked (13-5) and outdug (67-59) the visitors, with junior Brandi Donnelly leading the way with 23 digs. It was her fourth 20-dig match of the season and the 24th of her career. Freshman Caroline Welsh recorded a career-high 16 digs, while Strizak turned in 13 digs.
Sophomore setter Jordyn Poulter added 29 assists, six digs and five blocks for the Illini.
Illinois will have almost a week off before their next match as the Illini welcome in Indiana on Friday (Oct. 21) and No. 22 Purdue on Saturday (Oct. 22). Both matches will be at 7 p.m. CT in Huff Hall.
