NEW BRUNSWICK, N. J. – The No. 4 Illinois volleyball team extended its win streak to 11 matches as the Illini earned the season sweep of Rutgers in a 3-0 win on Saturday (November 17) night at College Avenue Gym.
The Illini (26-3, 15-3 B1G) earned their 12th road victory with junior Jacqueline Quade pacing the team with 12 kills on a .214 hitting percentage, while sophomore Megan Cooney added nine kills on a .438 attack clip.
As a team, the Illini registered a .319 hitting percentage as senior Jordyn Poulter dished out 34 assists to go along with three blocks, three digs and a pair of service aces.
Defensively, senior Ali Bastianelli turned in a match-high seven blocks and sophomore Morgan O'Brien posted a match-high 15 digs as the Illini held the Scarlet Knights (6-25, 0-18 B1G) to a .141 hitting percentage.
With the two trading points to open the match, the Scarlet Knights held a 4-3 lead until the Illini put together a 15-2 run – including a string of nine-straight points with all but one coming on the Poulter serve – to take a commanding 18-6 advantage in the first. The Illini then finished off the set with four of the final five points as a Bastianelli kill sealed the 25-11 win.
In a closer second period, a Prince kill put the Illini ahead at 6-5, before four-straight points pushed the Scarlet Knights to a 9-6 advantage. The visitors fought back to retake an 11-10 edge on a service ace from junior Ashlyn Fleming, before back-to-back kills from Quade and Prince gave the Illini a 16-13 lead. RU cut its deficit to one at 19-18 after a 3-1 mini run, but UI returned with a 5-1 run to take the second, 25-20 on a Bastianelli and Prince stuff.
The Illini grabbed an early 10-5 edge in the third on a Poulter ace, before Cooney teamed with Bastianelli for a stuff to made it 13-8. Rutgers then used a 7-2 run to knot the score at 15-15, before an ace gave the home team an 18-17 lead in the set. With the score tied at 18-18, Poulter served up an ace to start a 5-2 Illini run en route to a 23-19 advantage. From there, Fleming and Cooney kills sent the Illini to a 25-21 set win and the sweep of the Scarlet Knights.
Illinois next heads into the final week of the regular season, traveling to East Lansing, Michigan, for a midweek match at Michigan State on Wednesday (November 21) at 6 p.m. CT, before hosting No. 12 Purdue in the regular season finale on Saturday (November 24) at 5 p.m. CT. Saturday's match will also serve as Senior Night as the Illini will honor seniors Ali Bastianelli, Blayke Hranicka and Jordyn Poulter post-match.
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