CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 3 Illinois volleyball team equaled its season-long win streak as the Illini secured its 14th-straight victory in a 3-0 (25-14, 25-9, 25-20) sweep of Eastern Michigan in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament on Friday (November 30) night in Huff Hall.
With the win, the third-seeded Illini (29-3) advance to face Louisville in the second round of the tournament on Saturday (December 1) night at 7 p.m. CT. The Cardinals (22-8) swept Dayton in their first-round match on Friday.
Junior Ashlyn Fleming paced the Illini with a team-high eight kills and no errors on nine swings for a .889 hitting percentage as well as four blocks, while classmate Jacqueline Quade also turned in a team-high eight kills on a .412 attack clip and three blocks.
The Illini registered their third-highest hitting percentage as a team with a .455 clip, with senior Jordyn Poulter totaling 24 assists as well as three blocks on the night.
Defensively, sophomore Morgan O'Brien led the Illini with eight digs and senior Ali Bastianelli posted five blocks as the Eagles (21-14) were held to a .066 team hitting percentage and were outblocked, 11 to one.
It was a back-and-forth start in the early goings of the match until the Illini broke a 5-5 tie with five-straight scores for the 10-5 lead following a Poulter and Fleming stuff. The Eagles pulled within three at 12-9 after a UI service error, but the home team responded with seven-unanswered points to take a 19-9 advantage – including six points on the serve of sophomore Kylie Bruder. From there, the two teams traded points until an Eagle attack error gave the Illini a 25-14 win in the first set.
EMU kept things close to open the second, but a pair of aces from sophomore Caroline Welsh helped the Illini grab a 13-6 edge midway through the set. After an Illini service error brought the Eagles within five at 14-9, UI put together an 11-0 run to end the second set with a 25-9 victory as freshman Taylor Kuper served up the final 10 points of the period.
In the most competitive set of the night, the Illini grabbed an early 7-2 edge on four-straight scores, but EMU answered back with a 4-0 run of their own to tie things at 11-11. The Illini then strung together seven-unanswered points – capped by a Welsh ace – for the 18-11 lead. A 5-2 run from the Eagles brought the visitors back to within four at 21-17, but back-to-back Illini scores stalled the rally as senior Blayke Hranicka sealed the sweep and the 25-20 set victory with a kill.
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