Minnesota & Wisconsin
Match 18: No. 3 Minnesota	Friday, October  12, 2018 | 7 p.m. CT | Maturi Pavilion | Minneapolis, Minn. Video: BTN Plus ($) | Audio: WDWS 1400 | Livestats
Match 19: No. 8 Wisconsin	Saturday, October 13, 2018 | 7 p.m. CT | UW Field House | Madison, Wis. Video: BTN Plus ($) | Audio: WDWS 1400 | Livestats
Full Match Notes	Illinois
Statistics	Illinois | Minnesota | Wisconsin
Series History	Minnesota: Illinois leads, 39-36-1 | Last Match: Illinois won, 3-1 on 11/18/2017 | Streak: Won 1 | Results Wisconsin: Illinois leads, 47-39-1 | Last: Illinois lost, 3-1, on 10/3/2018 | Streak: Lost 8 | Results
Tickets	Minnesota | Wisconsin
Social Media	@IlliniVball  | #Illini  | Facebook  | @IlliniVBall  | YouTube

ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD

The No. 7 Illinois volleyball team returns to the road this weekend with a trip to Minneapolis, Minnesota for a Friday (October 12) night match at No. 3 Minnesota, before heading to Madison, Wisconsin to take on No. 8 Wisconsin on Saturday (October 13). Both matches are set for 7 p.m. CT.

The Illini own a 39-36-1 advantage in the all-time series with the Gophers, but are 16-17 in Minneapolis. The two teams split is two meetings a season ago with the Illini pushing then-No. 5 Minnesota to five sets in Maturi Pavilion on Oct. 25, before earning a 3-1 upset victory over UM in Huff Hall on Nov. 18. The win marked the first win over Minnesota for UI since since a sweep in Huff Hall on October 1, 2014, while the then-No. 7 Gophers are the highest ranked opponent UI has beaten since defeating No. 5 Penn State in Rec Hall in 2014.

The Illini lead the all-time series with Wisconsin, 47-39-1, but are 16-21-1 on the road. The Badgers took this season's earlier meeting, a 3-1 setback on October 3 in Huff Hall. Junior Jacqueline Quade led the Illini with 18 kills and nine digs on the night, with redshirt-junior Beth Prince adding 12 kills and senior Ali Bastianelli posting nine kills on a .316 hitting percentage.

ILLINI BLANK WILDCATS ON SATURDAY NIGHT

Illinois made quick work of Northwestern in a 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 2513 sweep on Saturday (October 6) night at Huff Hall, with the victory highlighted by senior Ali Bastianelli breaking the Illinois all-time total blocks record.

Junior Jacqueline Quade paced the Illini with a match-high 11 kills on a .269 hitting percentage, while Bastianelli and sophomore Megan Cooney each added seven kills – with the senior posting a .545 hitting percentage and the sophomore registering a .312 attack clip. Junior Ashlyn Fleming also recorded five kills with no errors on seven swings for a .714 hitting percentage.

Bastianelli led all players with five blocks on the night, with Quade equaling a season-high with four stuffs in the win.

Senior Jordyn Poulter notched her 31st career double-double and seventh of the season with 26 assists and 11 digs, while leading the Illini to a .372 team hitting percentage.

Defensively, sophomore Morgan O'Brien posted a match-high 14 digs in the match as the Illini held the Wildcats to a .034 team hitting percentage.

BASTIANELLI BECOMES CAREER BLOCKS LEADER AT ILLINOIS

Senior Ali Bastianelli has established herself as one of the all-time blocking greats and with five blocks in a win over Northwestern on Saturday (October 6) night, became the career blocks leader at Illinois. 

Entering the match, Bastianelli needed only three blocks to break Johannah Bangert's (2007-10) record of 653 total blocks and after tying the mark with stuffs in the opening set, the senior made history with her next block in the third. The Marysville, Michigan native now owns 656 blocks in her Illini career. 

Earlier this season Bastianelli became just the second player in program history to reach 600 career total blocks after crossing that threshold with 15 stuffs at the CSU Invitational on September 7-8. 

Bastianelli also sits in second place for career blocks assists with 601, just 12 block assists from Bangert's record of 613.

QUADE PACING ILLINI OFFENSE

Junior Jacqueline Quade has paced the Illini offense with 258 kills on the season for a 4.16 kills per set average on a .289 hitting percentage. 

Quade leads the Big Ten and ranks 34th in the nation in kills per set, while her kill total sits third in the league and 67th in the NCAA. 

Along with leading in kills, Quade also owns a conference-best 4.73 points per set mark, which also ranks 28th in the country. She has registered 293 total points on the season, good enough for third in the Big Ten and 58th in the nation.

POULTER REACHES 4,000 CAREER ASSISTS MILESTONE

The quarterback of the Illini offense since she arrived on campus in 2015, senior Jordyn Poulter entered the top-five in career assists earlier this season and with 39 helpers in a win over Northern Iowa on September 14 became just the fourth-ever Illini to reach 4,000 career assists in program history.

The senior currently ranks fourth all-time with 4,344 helpers, with Barb Winsett (1987-90) sitting in third place with 4,457 career helpers. Melissa Beitz (1996-99) ranks first in program history with 5,797 assists from 1996-99.

POULTER TOPS IN ASSISTS 

Senior Jordyn Poulter ranks second in the Big Ten and 12th in the NCAA with 11.44 assists per set. She owns 709 helpers on the season to sit second  in the conference and 37th in the country. 

In conference action, Poulter ranks fourth with a 11.39 assists per set mark and has totaled 262 helpers.

ILLINI SERVING UP THE ACES

The Illini set a new season-high with 12 service aces against No. 16 Purdue on September 21 as senior Ali Bastianelli turned in a career-high and tied the team's season-high with five aces, while junior Jacqueline Quade equaled her career-high with four aces as well.

As a team, the Illini rank ninth in the NCAA and are tied for first in the Big Ten with 1.79 aces per set and are 30th in the nation and second in the league with 111 on the season. 

Individually, freshman Taylor Kuper paces the Illini and ranks fifth in the B1G with 24 aces on the season, while sophomore Morgan O'Brien and senior Ali Bastianelli leads UI in conference action with 23 aces to rank in a tie for eighth.

For the season, the Illini have registered eight matches with seven or more aces, including two double-digit ace outings with 12 at Purdue and 10 in a win over UC Urvine on September 8. 

POULTER & BASTIANELLI NAMED SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATES

Illinois volleyball seniors Jordyn Poulter and Ali Bastianelli have been named candidates for the Senior CLASS Award, it was announced on Monday (October 1). The Illini duo are two of 30 candidates up for the award, which honors student-athletes who excel both on and off the field.

Illinois is one of just two schools with two candidates along with Creighton, while the Big Ten boasts five total honorees.

Candidates must have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.