Michigan & Michigan State
Match 20: No. 13 Michigan	Friday, October  19, 2018 | 7 p.m. CT | Huff Hall | Champaign, Ill. Video: BTN Plus ($) | Audio: WDWS 1400 | Livestats
Match 21: Michigan State	Saturday, October 20, 2018 | 7 p.m. CT | Huff Hall | Champaign, Ill. | PINK MATCH Video: BTN Plus ($) | Audio: WDWS 1400 | Livestats
Full Match Notes	Illinois | Michigan | Michigan State
Statistics	Illinois | Michigan | Michigan State
Series History	Michigan: Illinois leads, 49-24 | Last Match: Illinois lost, 2-3 on 11/11/2017 | Streak: Lost 1 | Results Michigan State: Illinois leads, 49-28 | Last: Illinois lost, 1-3, on 12/8/2017 | Streak: Lost 3 | Results
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ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD

The No. 7 Illinois volleyball team returns to Huff Hall to host No. 13 Michigan and Michigan State this weekend, taking on the Wolverines on Friday (October 19) and the Spartans on Saturday (October 20). Both matches are set for a 7 p.m. CT first serve.

The Illini hold a 49-24 advantage in the all time series with the Wolverines and own an impressive 28-6 mark in home matches. The teams split both its meetings last season, with the Illini win in five at home on November 4, before falling in five in Ann Arbor just eight days later on November 11. 

UI also own a 49-28 lead in the all-time series with the Spartans and are 24-9 in Huff Hall, but have not defeated MSU in its last three matches, including last season's regular season sweep on November 10 in East Lansing. The two teams also met in the NCAA Regional semifinal in University Park, Penn., on December 8, where the Spartans took the match, 3-1. 

TEAM EFFORT LEADS ILLINI PAST BADGERS 

The Illini used a complete team effort – highlighted by junior Jacqueline Quade's career-high 26 kills – to earn a come-from-behind 3-1 win over No. 8 Wisconsin on Saturday (October 13) night in the UW Field House. It was the first Illini win over the Badgers since 2013 when the Illini also notched a 3-1 win in Madison.

Senior Ali Bastianelli and sophomore Megan Cooney joined Quade in double figures with 11 kills each, with Bastianelli posting a .476 hitting percentage for the Illini.

Senior Jordyn Poulter registered her 32nd career double-double and ninth of the season with 55 assists  and 13 digs, while leading the Illini to a .220 team attack percentage.

As a team, the Illini totaled 15 blocks, with junior Ashlyn Fleming pacing with a match-high nine stuffs, with Bastianelli posting six blocks and Quade and Cooney adding four stuffs on the night.

UI totaled eight service aces for their ninth match with seven or more aces, with Poulter and Fleming leading with three each.

Defensively, sophomore Morgan O'Brien tied a career-high with 24 digs, with Quade adding nine in the win.

EPIC THIRD SET WITH BADGERS

With the match between the Badgers and the Illini tied at 1-1, the third set proved to be the tightest with 16 ties and five lead changes. 

The Illini reached set point first at 24-22, but the Badgers fought off three Illini set points en route to earning a set point of their own at 26-25. 

The Illini continued to battle as they killed off eight-straight UW set points – with kills from Quade saving six set points – until the junior teamed with classmate Ashlyn Fleming for a block for the fourth UI set point and converted her 13th kill of the period for the 35-33 win. 

The last time the Illini had a set reach 35-33 was during the 2014 season when Illinois took the opening set against Virginia Tech on September 13 at the Blue Raider Bash. 

The last time the Illini hit the 30-mark in a set was a 32-30 second set win over Michigan State on October 12, 2016. The last time an opponent hit the 30-mark was a season ago with Penn State taking a 30-28 win in the opening set on October 28.

AVCA TOP 25 WINS

With the win over No. 8 Wisconsin on Saturday, the Illini have now registered six wins against AVCA Top 25 teams, including a pair of Top-10 wins with the Badgers and No. 10 Creighton on September 15. 

Other top-25 wins for the Illini include No. 25 Colorado State, No. 21 Colorado, No. 13 Washington and No. 16 Purdue. 

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 currently owns 666 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 is also within two career block assists of tying the Illinois and Big Ten Conference career block assists record of 613, also held by Bangert. 

POULTER NEARING TOP THREE IN CAREER ASSISTS

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 4,430 helpers and is just 27 assists away from moving into a tie for third with Barb Winsett (1987-90), who owns 4,457 career assists. Melissa Beitz (1996-99) ranks first in program history with 5,797 assists from 1996-99.

QUADE PACING ILLINI OFFENSE

Junior Jacqueline Quade has paced the Illini offense with 292 kills on the season for a 4.23 kills per set average on a .276 hitting percentage. 

Quade leads the Big Ten and ranks 31st in the nation in kills per set, while her kill total sits third in the league and 53rd in the NCAA. 

Along with leading in kills, Quade also owns a conference-best 4.80 points per set mark, which also ranks 22nd in the country. She has registered 331 total points on the season, good enough for third in the Big Ten and 44th in the nation.

POULTER TOPS IN ASSISTS 

Senior Jordyn Poulter ranks second in the Big Ten and 10th in the NCAA with 11.52 assists per set. She owns 795 helpers on the season to pace the conference and rank 34th in the country. 

In conference action, Poulter ranks third with a 11.60 assists per set mark and has totaled 348 helpers.

With 4,430 total career assists, Poulter sits third in the NCAA active career leaders list.

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 13th in the NCAA and second in the Big Ten with 1.75 aces per set and are 31st in the nation and lead the league with 121 on the season. 

Individually, freshman Taylor Kuper paces the Illini and ranks third in the B1G with 26 aces on the season, while  senior Jordyn Poulter leads the Illini in conference action with nine. 

For the season, the Illini have registered nine 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.