Rutgers & Penn State
Match 26: Rutgers (6-21, 0-14)	Friday, November 9, 2018 | 7 p.m. CT | Huff Hall | Champaign, Ill. | 80's NIGHT Video: BTN Plus ($) | Audio: WDWS 1400 | Livestats
Match 27: No. 7 Penn State (18-5, 9-4)	Saturday, November 10, 2018 | 7 p.m. CT | Huff Hall | Champaign, Ill. | IlliNOISE NIGHT Video: BTN Plus ($) | Audio: WDWS 1400 | Livestats
Full Match Notes	Illinois | Rutgers | Penn State
Statistics	Illinois | Rutgers | Penn State
Series History	Rutgers: Illinois leads, 8-1 | Last Match: Illinois won, 3-0 on 10/1/2017 | Streak: Won 8 | Results Penn State: Illinois trails, 10-45 | Last: Illinois lost, 0-3, on 10/28/2017 | Streak: Lost 4 | Results
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Senior CLASS Award	VOTE FOR POULTER & BASTIANELLI!
Social Media	@IlliniVball  | #Illini  | Facebook  | @IlliniVBall  | YouTube

ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD

The No. 4 Illinois volleyball team returns to Huff Hall for a two-match homestand this weekend as the Illini take on Rutgers for 80's Night on Friday (November 9), before hosting No. 7 Penn State on Saturday (November 10) for IlliNOISE Night. First serve for both matches is set for 7 p.m. CT. 

The Illini lead the all-time series with the Scarlet Knights, 8-1, including a 3-0 mark in Huff Hall and have won eight-straight against RU dating back to 2005. The Illini swept their only meeting with Rutgers with a 3-0 win on October 1, 2017 in New Brunswick, N.J. 

UI trails the all-time series with Penn State, 10-45, and are 7-19 at home against the Nittany Lions. The Illini dropped both meetings with PSU last season by scores of 3-0 and last defeating the Nittany Lions in a 3-1 decision on October, 11, 2014 in University Park, Pa. 

ILLINI MOVE WIN STREAK TO SEVEN MATCHES

Illinois earned a pair of road wins last weekend, opening with a 3-1 victory at Ohio State on Friday, before a 3-0 sweep of Maryland in just an hour and 12 minutes on Sunday. With the two wins, the Illini have now won their last seven matches dating back to the October 13th victory at then-No. 8 Wisconsin.

Senior Ali Bastianelli paced the team with 22 kills for 3.14 kills per set on a .562 hitting percentage after only committing four errors on 32 swings, while also adding a team-high seven blocks in the two matches. 

Senior Jordyn Poulter led the Illini to a .397 team hitting percentage after handing out 77 assists for an 11.00 assists per set average, while posting 11 digs for a 1.57 digs per set mark and a team-high seven blocks. She also added five kills with zero errors on 10 swings for a .500 hitting percentage and three service aces on the weekend.

Sophomore Morgan O'Brien paced the Illini defense on the weekend with 26 digs for a 3.71 digs per set mark, while adding a team-high four service aces.

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 last week's poll on October 29 and held steady at No. 4 in the latest poll released on Monday (November 5). 

The 2011 Illini concluded the season ranked at No. 2 after a runner-up finish in the NCAA Tournament. 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. 7 Penn State, No. 8 Wisconsin, No. 12 Purdue and No. 15 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. 25 Washington, Northern Iowa (RV) and Colorado (RV).

AVCA TOP 25 WINS

With the win over No. 9 Nebraska on October 27, the Illini have now registered eight wins against AVCA Top 25 teams, including a trio of Top-10 wins with the Huskers, 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.

BASTIANELLI BECOMES CAREER BLOCKS LEADER AT ILLINOIS

Senior Ali Bastianelli has established herself as one of the all-time blocking greats and with five blocks in a win over Northwestern on October 6, became the career blocks leader at Illinois. 

Entering the match, Bastianelli needed only three blocks to break Johannah Bangert's (2007-10) record of 653 total blocks and after tying the mark with stuffs in the opening set, the senior made history with her next block in the third. The Marysville, Michigan native currently owns 690 blocks in her Illini career. 

Earlier this season Bastianelli became 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.

BASTIANELLI NEARING 700 CAREER TOTAL BLOCKS

With 690 career total blocks, Bastianelli is just 10 stuffs away from becoming the first-ever Illini and only the third-ever player in the Big Ten Conference to register 700 career total 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 381 kills on the season for a 4.19 kills per set average on a .259 hitting percentage. 

Quade ranks third in the Big Ten and is 32nd in the nation in kills per set, while her kill total sits third in the league and 43rd in the NCAA. 

The junior also ranks fourth in the conference with a 4.70 points per set mark, which also ranks 35th in the country. She has registered 427.5 total points on the season, good enough for third in the Big Ten and 48th in the nation.

POULTER TOPS IN ASSISTS 

Senior Jordyn Poulter ranks second the Big Ten and is sixth in the NCAA with 11.71 assists per set. She owns 1,066 helpers on the season to sit second in the conference and rank 24th in the country. 

In conference action, Poulter ranks third with a 11.90 assists per set mark and has totaled 619 helpers.

With 4,701 total career assists, Poulter sits third in the NCAA active career leaders list.  

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 10th in the NCAA and pace the Big Ten with 1.68 aces per set and are 27th in the nation and second in the league with 153 on the season. 

Individually, freshman Taylor Kuper paces the Illini and ranks sixth in the B1G with 30 aces on the season, while  senior Jordyn Poulter and sophomore Morgan O'Brien lead the Illini in conference action with 15 each. 

For the season, the Illini have registered 10 matches with seven or more aces, including three double-digit ace outings with 12 at Purdue and 10 in wins over UC Urvine on September 8 and at Ohio State on November 2

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 Thursday (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.