University of Illinois
Rutgers
No. 4 Illini Fly East for Saturday Match at Rutgers
November 16, 2018 | Volleyball
First serve against the Scarlet Knights is set for 6 p.m. CT on BTN Plus
| Rutgers | |
|---|---|
| Match 29: Northwestern (6-24, 0-17 B1G) |
Saturday, November 17, 2018 | 6 p.m. CT | College Avenue Gym | New Brunswick, N.J. Video: BTN Plus ($) | Audio: WDWS 1400 | Livestats |
| Full Match Notes | Illinois |
| Statistics | Illinois | Rutgers |
| Series History | Rutgers: Illinois leads, 9-1 | Last Match: Illinois won, 3-0 on 11/9/2018 | Streak: Won 9 | Results |
| Tickets | FREE ADMISSION |
| Senior CLASS Award | VOTE FOR POULTER & BASTIANELLI! |
| Social Media | @IlliniVball  | #Illini | Facebook  | @IlliniVBall  | YouTube 
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ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD
The No. 4 Illinois volleyball team is set to fly east for a Saturday (November 17) showdown with Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J., at 6 p.m. CT.
The Illini lead the all-time series with the Scarlet Knights, 9-1, including a 4-0 mark in New Brunswick and have won nine-straight against RU dating back to 2005. The Illini swept their earlier meeting this season with Rutgers, playing last Friday (November 11) as junior Jacqueline Quade and redshirt-junior Beth Prince led with eight kills each and senior Jordyn Poulter turned in 34 assists and a match-high 10 digs.
ILLINI ROUT WILDCATS FOR 10TH-STRAIGHT WIN
Illinois routed Northwestern in a 3-0 victory to earn the season sweep and extend its win streak to 10 matches on Wednesday (November 14) night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Senior Ali Bastianelli paced the team with 10 kills on a .500 hitting percentage, while also totaling a match-high four blocks to become the first-ever Illini and only the third-ever Big Ten Conference player to register 700 or more total blocks and currently owns 702 career blocks in her four years.
Sophomore Megan Cooney also led with 10 kills on a team-high .533 attack clip.
As a team, the Illini recorded a .408 hitting percentage - including a .591 clip in the second set and a .500 mark in the third – as senior Jordyn Poulter handed out 33 assists, while adding seven digs and three blocks.
POULTER & BASTIANELLI NAMED COSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Seniors Jordyn Poulter and Ali Bastianelli garnered Academic All-District honors for district 5, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced on Thursday (November 14). Poulter now advances to the Academic All-America team ballot as a first-team selection.
It is the first time since 2014 that the Illini have garnered Academic All-District honors with former standouts Anna Dorn and Liz McMahon named to the first- and second-teams, respectively. Dorn would then go on to earn Academic All-America Second-Team accolades later that season.
Poulter owns a 3.48 GPA majoring media & cinema studies, while Bastianelli has a 3.56 GPA and is majoring in community health.
ILLINI HOLD STEADY AT NO. 4 IN AVCA POLL
For the first time since the 2011 season, Illinois moved into the top-five of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Coaches Top 25 poll with a No. 4 ranking in the October 29 poll and have held that ranking for the last three weeks.
The 2011 Illini concluded the season ranked at No. 2 after a runner-up finish in the NCAA Tournament. Prior to the 2018 season, the last time the Illini were ranked at No. 4 was on September 5, 2011, with the Illini reaching the No. 1 ranking on September 26, 2011 and staying atop the polls for four-straight weeks.
UI opened the 2018 season with a No. 12 ranking in the AVCA Preseason poll and have gradually moved up the polls. Following the opening weekend, UI moved to No. 11 for two weeks and then jumped into the top-10 for the first time since the 2015 season with a No. 8 ranking for two weeks. From there, the Illini owned the No. 7 spot in the polls for four weeks, before moving to No. 6 on October 22.
Illinois is joined by six other Big Ten schools ranked the AVCA Poll this week and are the second-highest behind No. 3 Minnesota, with No. 6 Nebraska, No. T-7 Penn State, No. T-7 Wisconsin, No. 12 Purdue and No. 19 Michigan also making appearances in the rankings.
Along with their conference foes, the Illini have faced four other opponents in the top-25 or are receiving votes, including No. 9 Creighton, No. 20 Washington, Northern Iowa (RV) and Colorado (RV).
AVCA TOP 25 WINS
With the win over No. 7 Penn State last Saturday (November 10), the Illini have now registered nine wins against AVCA Top 25 teams, including a quartet of Top-10 wins with the Nittany Lions, No. 9 Nebraska on October 27, No. 8 Wisconsin on October 13 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, No. 16 Purdue and No. 13 Michigan.
The last time the Illini had nine or more AVCA Top-25 wins was during the 2013 campaign when UI won 10 matches against Top-25 opponents.
POULTER NEARING 400 BLOCKS & 1000 DIGS
With 971 digs and 395 blocks in her career, senior Jordyn Poulter is just 29 digs and five stuffs away from reaching a pair of career milestones.
Poulter currently ranks 15th all-time in career digs and 16th in career total blocks and would be the 13th Illini to reach the 1,000 digs mark and the 15th to reach the 400-stuff mark.
The Aurora, Colorado native would also be the first-ever Illinois setter to reach both the 1,000 digs and 400 blocks milestones.
BASTIANELLI REACHES 700 CAREER BLOCKS
With four blocks in a win at Northwestern on Wednesday (November 14), senior Ali Bastianelli became the first-ever Illini and only the third-ever Big Ten Conference player to register 700 or more total blocks and currently owns 702 career blocks. The NCAA does not track career blocking records.
Penn State's Lauren Cacciamani (1996-99) and Terri Zemaitis (1994-97) rank first and second in the conference with 767 and 736 blocks, respectively.
QUADE PACING ILLINI OFFENSE
Junior Jacqueline Quade has paced the Illini offense with 429 kills on the season for a 4.21 kills per set average on a .260 hitting percentage.
Quade ranks second in the Big Ten and is 32nd in the nation in kills per set, while her kill total sits second in the league and 37th in the NCAA.
The junior also ranks fifth in the conference with a 4.71 points per set mark, which also ranks 30th in the country. She has registered 480.0 total points on the season, good enough for second in the Big Ten and 34th in the nation.
POULTER TOPS IN ASSISTS
Senior Jordyn Poulter ranks third the Big Ten and is 12th in the NCAA with 11.65 assists per set. She owns 1,188 helpers on the season to lead the conference and rank 17th in the country.
In conference action, Poulter ranks third with a 11.76 assists per set mark and has totaled 741 helpers.
With 4,823 total career assists, Poulter sits third in the NCAA active career leaders list.
POULTER & BASTIANELLI NAMED SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALISTS
Seniors Jordyn Poulter and Ali Bastianelli have been named two of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award, it was announced on October 25. The award highlights student-athletes who excel both on and off the court.
Illinois is the lone school with two finalists, with the Big Ten boasting four of the final 10 finalists.
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.
The finalists were chosen by a selection committee from the list of 30 candidates announced earlier in the season. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately, and fans are encouraged to vote on the Senior CLASS Award website through December 5. Fan votes will then be combined with media and Division I head coaches' votes to determine the winner.
The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2018 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship in December.
