University of Illinois
Northwestern
No. 7 Illini Volleyball Wrap Homestand against Northwestern on Saturday
October 5, 2018 | Volleyball
First serve is set for 7 p.m. CT on BTN Plus
| Northwestern | |
|---|---|
| Match 17: Northwestern |
Saturday, October 6, 2018 | 7 p.m. CT | Huff Hall | Champaign, Ill. Video: BTN Plus | Audio: WDWS 1400 | Livestats |
| Full Match Notes | Illinois |
| Statistics | Illinois | Northwestern |
| Series History | Northwestern: Illinois leads, 58-29 | Last Match: Illinois won, 3-0 on 11/1/2017 | Streak: Won 7 | Results |
| Tickets | BUY HERE |
| Social Media | @IlliniVball  | #Illini | Facebook  | @IlliniVBall  | YouTube 
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ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD
The No. 7 Illinois volleyball team wraps up its four-match homestand this weekend against Northwestern on Saturday (October 6) at 7 p.m. CT.
Illinois holds a 58-29 advantage in the all-time series with Northwestern and own a 31-9 record in Champaign. The Illini swept both meetings with the Wildcats in 2017.
ILLINI FALL TO BADGERS IN MIDWEEK MATCH
The Illini battled on Wednesday (October 3) night in Huff Hall, before falling to No. 6 Wisconsin, 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 23-25, 18-25) in a midweek Big Ten Conference match-up.
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.
Senior Jordyn Poulter handed out 44 assists to go along with seven digs, two blocks and two aces.
Junior Ashlyn Fleming registered a team-high three blocks, while Bastianelli also notched two stuffs on the night to move within two blocks of tying former Illini Johannah Bangert for the program record of 653 total blocks.
Defensively, sophomore Morgan O'Brien registered a team-high 14 digs in the match, with junior Caroline Welsh turning 11 digs.
ILLINI DEBUT AT NO. 3 IN NCAA RPI
In the first NCAA RPI ranking of the 2018 season - released on Monday (October 1), the Illini led the Big Ten with a debut ranking of No. 3, sitting just behind No. 1 Stanford and No. 2 BYU.
There are nine Illini opponents in the top 25, including No. 7 Washington, No. 8 Nebraska, No. 9 Wisconsin, No. 11 Michigan, No. 12 Purdue, No. 15 Minnesota, No. UNI, No. 21 Creighton and No. 22 Penn State.
Of all of the Illini's opponents only two foes - Lipscomb (No. 124) and Rutgers (No. 178) are out of the Top 120, with only six opponents ranking out of the top 70.
BASTIANELLI TWO BLOCKS AWAY FROM PROGRAM RECORD
Senior Ali Bastianelli has established herself as one of the all-time blocking greats and has etched her name in the Illini record books, becoming 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.
She is just two blocks away from tying former player and director of operations Johannah Bangert (2007-10) for the program record of 653 total blocks.
Bastianelli also sits in second place for career blocks assists with 596, just 17 block assists from Bangert's record of 613.
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.
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 4,318 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 leads the Illini and ranks eighth in the NCAA with 11.58 assists per set. She owns 683 helpers on the season to pace the conference and sit 24th in the country.
In conference action, Poulter ranks first with a 11.80 assists per set mark and leads the Big Ten with 236 assists handed out in five matches.
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 third in the Big Ten with 1.76 aces per set and are 25th in the nation and second in the league with 104 on the season.
Individually, freshman Taylor Kuper paces the Illini and ranks third in the B1G with 23 aces on the season, while ranking seventh in the conference with 0.39 aces per set.
For the season, the Illini have registered seven 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.
