CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 4 Illinois volleyball team wrapped up the 2018 regular season and celebrated Senior Night for seniors Ali Bastianelli, Blayke Hranicka and Jordyn Poulter with its 13th-straight win as the Illini earned a 3-1 victory over No. 12 Purdue in front of a sellout crowd of 4,152 fans in Huff Hall on Saturday (November 24) night.
The Illini finish the 2018 regular season with a 28-3 overall record and a 17-3 mark in the Big Ten Conference, and will await their postseason fate until Sunday evening's NCAA Selection Show on ESPNU at 7:30 p.m. CT.
Junior Jacqueline Quade paced the Illini with her 11th career double-double with 22 kills on a .347 hitting percentage and 12 digs, while redshirt-junior Beth Prince turned in 14 kills on a .333 attack clip and sophomore Megan Cooney added 10 kills on a .417 hitting percentage.
As a team, the Illini registered a .318 hitting percentage as Poulter passed out 52 assists to go along with seven digs, three kills and two blocks.
The Illini were led defensively by sophomore Morgan O'Brien with 25 digs on the night, while freshman Taylor Kuper added 11 digs and a match-high three service aces and Bastianelli turned in a match-high four blocks as the Boilermakers (23-8, 12-8 B1G) were held to a .255 team attack clip.
Behind strong serving from junior Ashlyn Fleming, the Illini bolted out to a 5-1 lead to open the match, but the Boilermakers battled back with five-straight scores to pull ahead at 9-8 in the first. From there it was back-and-forth until back-to-back Quade kills followed by a PU error gave the Illini a 15-12 lead. The visitors pulled within one at 16-15, but the Illini answered back with a 7-1 run on the O'Brien serve to take control at 23-17. After back-to-back Purdue kill, the Illini finished off the 25-18 set with kills from Prince and Quade.
The two teams traded points to start the second until the Boilermakers strung together three-straight scores to take a 14-10 advantage. After a Quade kill closed the deficit to one at 15-14, Purdue answered with back-to-back scores to start a 5-1 run for the 20-15 lead. Four-straight Illini points – including three on the Poulter serve - cut the Boilermaker edge to one at 20-19, but again the visitors responded with back-to-back scores en route to a 23-20 lead. A Quade kill then brought the Illini within one at 24-23, before a Purdue score tied up the match with 25-23 set win.
In a closely contested fourth frame that saw 11 ties and two lead changes, the Illini bolted out of the gate for a 7-3 advantage on a Purdue service error. The Boilermakers knotted things at 9-9 and from there it was side-out volleyball as the visitors grabbed a two-point advantage on two occasions, including a 21-19 lead late in the set. The Illini then went on a 6-1 run to end the set as back-to-back blocks – including a Prince solo stuff and a Fleming and Cooney combo – sealed the 25-22 victory.
The Illini again jumped out to an early edge as three-straight kills from Bastianelli, Prince and Quade made it 7-3 in favor of the home team in the fourth. The Boilermakers fought back to close within one at 12-11, but from there on it was all Illini as the home team closed out the set with a 13-4 run including five-straight points that saw the lead catapult to 19-12 on a Bastianelli kill. Back-to-back kills from Hranicka and Quade then sent UI to the 3-1 victory with the 25-15 win.
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