LINCOLN, Neb. – Behind a strong defensive effort, the No. 6 Illinois volleyball team earned a 3-1 (27-29, 25-19, 27-25, 25-22) win over No. 9 Nebraska on Saturday (October 27) night at the Devaney Sports Center. It was the first win over the Huskers since 2014 when the Illini swept both meetings with a 3-1 win on October 18 in Lincoln and a 3-2 victory on November 26 in Champaign.
The victory marked the fifth-straight win and the 20th of the season for the Illini, who improved to 20-3 and 9-3 in the Big Ten.
Junior Jacqueline Quade notched her second-straight double-double, ninth of her career and fifth of the season with a match-high 23 kills and 13 digs, while senior Ali Bastianelli turned in 10 kills on a .348 hitting percentage and five blocks. Junior Ashlyn Fleming added nine kills on only one error in 22 swings for a .364 attack clip and a team-high six blocks.
Senior Jordyn Poulter also registered her 34th career double-double and 11th of the season with 49 assists and a season-high 18 digs to go along with three blocks and three kills.
Defensively, sophomore Morgan O'Brien totaled a career-high 32 digs, tying for the seventh-most digs in a single match in program history, while freshman Taylor Kuper also posted a career-high 25 digs and junior Caroline Welsh added 11 digs on the night as the Illini held the Huskers (16-6, 7-5 B1G) to a .099 team hitting percentage.
UNL grabbed an early three-point advantage at 7-4 in the opening set with back-to-back kills, but a Quade kill sandwiched between two Nebraska errors knotted things at 7-7. The home team again took a 12-8 lead on three-straight scores, but the Illini responded with a 6-2 run to tie things up at 14-14 on a Quade and Bastianelli block. From there the two teams battled back and forth until the Huskers broke a 19-19 tie with back-to-back scores for the 21-19 edge, but the Illini used three-unanswered points to take a 22-21 lead on a Poulter and Bastianelli block. Another 3-0 run – this time by the home team – gave Nebraska set point at 24-22, but the Illini continued to battle as UI fought off five set points before an UNL block finished off the opener at 29-27.
After Nebraska opened the second set with a quick 4-1 lead, the Illini came back to tie things at 6-6 on a kill from redshirt-junior Beth Prince. A 5-0 run from the Illini then pushed the visitors ahead at 11-8 on back-to-back blocks, followed by a Prince kill, a Poulter ace and a kill from sophomore Megan Cooney. The Huskers cut the deficit to 14-12, but a 7-2 run from the visitors pushed the advantage to 21-14 following a Fleming and Prince block. Four-straight points from the home team closed the gap to 21-18, but back-to-back Fleming kills stalled the UNL rally as kills from the San Jose, California native and Cooney sealed the 25-19 second set win.
On the strong serve of junior Caroline Welsh, the Illini took an 4-1 edge in the third set, before the Huskers came back to grab a 6-5 lead on a pair of UI errors. Four-straight points from the visitors then pushed the Illini back on top at 9-6 on three Quade kills and a Poulter attack. Nebraska then answered with their own 6-1 run for the 14-11 advantage. Down by three at 17-14, the Illini fought back to tie the score at 17-17 on a Quade kill following a UNL overpass. A Poulter and Bastianelli block bookended by a pair of Bastianelli kills broke a 18-18 tie for a 21-18 Illini lead, but Nebraska battled back with a 6-2 run to earn its first set point at 24-23. After fighting off a pair of Husker set points, back-to-back Quade kills produced a 27-25 Illini win in the third.
With Illinois leading 2-1 in the match, the Huskers jumped out to an 8-3 edge in the fourth period and continued to lead at 11-7 until UI used seven-unanswered scores to push ahead at 14-11 on the strength of the Welsh serve. After a UNL kill stopped the run, back-to-back Husker errors gave the Illini a 16-12 lead, but the home team responded with a 6-2 run to tie the score at 18-18. Kills from Fleming and Prince along with a Husker error propelled the Illini to a 22-19 advantage, but three-straight points from the home team knotted things at 22-22. Following an Illini timeout, the Huskers served up an error, before back-to-back blocks – first from Quade and Fleming and then from Fleming and Cooney – sent Illinois to victory with the 25-22 set score in the fourth and the 3-1 win in the match.
Illinois continues its three-match road swing next weekend with a Friday (November 2) night match against Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, before traveling to College Park, Maryland, to take on Maryland on Sunday (November 4).
For more Fighting Illini volleyball news, stay tuned to FightingIllini.com and follow @IlliniVBall on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook.
