CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Behind a career night from freshman Tyanna Omazic and the return of senior libero Brandi Donnelly, the Illinois volleyball team earned a season sweep of Northwestern with a straight-sets (25-18, 25-22, 25-15) win on Wednesday (November 1) night in Huff Hall.
Omazic paced the Illini (17-7, 8-5) with a career-high 11 kills and only one error on 14 swings for a .714 hitting percentage as well as a team-high six blocks. Sophomore Jacqueline Quade added nine kills on a .304 hitting percentage and redshirt-sophomore Beth Prince notched eight kills on a .300 attack clip.
Junior Jordyn Poulter totaled 31 assists in directing the Illini to a .348 team hitting percentage in the win.
The Illini were dominate at the net with 12 total blocks – including nine in the third set - to the Wildcats' three, with junior Ali Bastianelli turning in five and Poulter adding four.
In her return to the court following an October 6 injury, Donnelly led the Illini defense with 14 digs, with Poulter and sophomore Caroline Welsh each posting seven on the night.
Following an early 4-4 tie in the opening set, the Illini grabbed an 8-4 lead on four-straight points, capped by a service ace from sophomore Annika Gereau. UI continued to lead at 10-6 after a Poulter kill, before a block from Bastianelli and freshman Megan Cooney pushed the advantage to 15-10. A Wildcat kill closed the gap to 16-13, but a 5-0 run gave the Illini their biggest edge of the set at 21-13. The two teams then traded points, before an Omazic finished off the 25-18 set one win.
It was a tight start to the second as Northwestern (13-12, 3-10) held a slight two-point advantage throughout much of the set, until a Quade kill knotted the score at 12-12. Back-to-back NU points then pushed the deficit back to two, before an Illini service error put the Wildcats ahead by three at 19-16. The Illini responded with six-straight points to take a 22-20 lead and then finished off the second by taking three of the last four points for the 2-0 advantage heading into the break.
Back-to-back Illini blocks opened the third as the Orange and Blue built a 7-2 edge on five blocks and kills from Omazic and Cooney. After a Wildcat service ace cut the lead to 13-10, the Illini used a 10-3 run to take command of the set at 23-13. Back-to-back Bastianelli kills then finished of the 25-15 set victory and the sweep of the Wildcats.
The Illini next wrap up their three-match homestand on Saturday (November 4) night in a Big Ten Network-broadcasted battle against Michigan at 7:30 p.m. CT in Huff Hall.
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