CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 4 Illinois volleyball team pushed its win streak to eight matches with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-11) sweep of Rutgers on Friday (November 9) night at Huff Hall.
The Illini (23-3, 12-3 B1G) were paced by 10 kills from junior Jacqueline Quade and eight kills from redshirt-junior Beth Prince on a .375 hitting percentage. As a team, the Illini hit at a .274 attack percentage with senior Jordyn Poulter posting her 12th double-double of the season and 35th of her career with 34 assists and a match-high 10 digs, while also adding three service aces in the win.
Defensively, freshman Taylor Kuper also added a match-high 10 digs, while junior Ashlyn Fleming turned in a team-high three blocks as the Illini held the Scarlet Knights (6-22, 0-15 B1G) to a .070 hitting percentage.
It was a back-and-forth start of the match until a 6-1 run – including aces from Poulter and junior Caroline Welsh gave the Illini a 14-9 edge. The Scarlet Knights battled back to cut the lead to two on three occasions, but with a 17-15 lead, the Illini pushed its advantage to 21-16 with a 4-1 run. An RU block then closed the deficit to three at 23-20, before a Quade kill and a Poulter and Bastianelli block sealed the 25-20 set one win.
After Rutgers jumped out to an early 8-3 lead in the second, the Illini stormed back to tie things up at 9-9 on four-straight scores. A Prince kill combined with a Fleming block and an RU error then propelled the Illini to a 14-11 lead, but the visitors stayed within three points until a Poulter ace gave UI a 21-17 advantage. Back-to-back kills from the Scarlet Knights cut the lead to 21-19, but it would be as RU would get as a Bastianelli kill made it 25-22 for the two-set lead in the match.
It was all Illinois in the third as an 9-3 start following a Poulter ace turned into a 17-6 advantage on an 8-1 run, highlighted by strong service games from sophomores Kylie Bruder and Emmaline Walters. From there, the two teams traded off points until back-to-back RU errors sent the Illini to a 25-11 set win and a 3-0 victory.
Illinois continues its homestand as it hosts No. 7 Penn State on Saturday (November 10) for IlliNOISE Night. First serve is set for 7 p.m. CT.
For more Fighting Illini volleyball news, stay tuned to FightingIllini.com and follow @IlliniVBall on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook.
