at No. 6 Wisconsin, No. 7 Minnesota
Match 16: No. 6 Wisconsin (10-4, 6-0 B1G)	Friday, October 18, 2019 | 8 p.m. CT | UW Field House | Madison, Wis.  TV: FS2 | Radio: WDWS 1400 | Livestats
Match 17: No. 7 Minnesota (11-3, 5-1 B1G)	Saturday, October 19, 2019 | 7 p.m. CT | Maturi Pavilion | Minneapolis, Minn. TV: BTN Radio: WDWS 1400 | Livestats
Full Match Notes	Illinois
2019 Statistics	Illinois | Wisconsin | Minnesota
Series History	Wisconsin: Illinois leads, 49-39-1 | Last: Illinois won, 3-1, on 12/8/2018 | Streak: Won 2 | Results Minnesota: Illinois leads, 39-38-1 | Last: Illinois lost, 3-1, on 10/9/2019 | Streak: Lost 2 | Results
Tickets	To Purchase: Wisconsin | Minnesota
Social Media	@IlliniVball  | #Illini  | Facebook  | @IlliniVBall  | YouTube

ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD

The No. 17 Illinois volleyball team is set to open a three-match road swing – one of the toughest of the season – as they travel to Madison, Wis., for meeting with No. 7 Wisconsin on Friday (October 18), before heading to Minneapolis, Minn., for a Saturday (October 19) night match against No. 6 Minnesota. UI then wraps up its trip with a midweek match against No. 8 Penn State in University Park, Pa., on Wednesday, October 23.

The Illini lead the all-time series with the Badgers, 49-39-1, but trail 17-21-1 in Madison. UI holds a two-match win streak after taking two-of-three meetings in 2018, including a 3-1 win in Huff Hall in the NCAA Regional Final on December 8 to send the Illini to the 2018 NCAA Final Four. One meeting prior to that historic match, the Illini went into the UW Field House and earned a 3-1 victory on October 13 - including a 35-33 third set in favor of UI - that marked the first win over the Badgers since 2013.

The Illini own a 39-38-1 advantage in the all-time series with the Gophers, but trail 16-18 on the road in Minneapolis. The Gophers took the first meeting between the two schools this season, 3-1, on October 10 in Huff Hall. 

Junior Megan Cooney equaled her career-high with a match-high 19 kills on the night, while senior Jacqueline Quade turned in 18 kills and classmate Ashlyn Fleming added 12 kills on a .360 hitting percentage for the Illini. Redshirt-freshman Diana Brown earned her third-straight double-double after handing out 51 assists and notching 14 digs. Defensively, junior Morgan O'Brien had a season-high and match-high 23 digs.

NCAA RPI RANKING

Illinois comes in at No. 24 in the latest NCAA RPI ranking after debuting in the first RPI of the season last Monday (October 14) ranked 22nd nationally. 

ILLINI CRUISE PAST HOOSIERS FOR SEASON SWEEP

Illinois wasted little time in dispatching Indiana on Saturday (October 12) night in Huff Hall as the Illini needed just an hour and 15 minutes – similar to the Illini's win in Bloomington eight days prior – to earn the straight-sets win (25-10, 25-13, 25-14) and secure the season sweep of the Hoosiers.

It was a full team effort offensively for the Illini, with senior Jacqueline Quade pacing the team with a match-high nine kills, while junior Megan Cooney added eight and senior Ashlyn Fleming and sophomore Mica Allison each posted seven kills on the night.

Redshirt-freshman Diana Brown handed out 31 assists en route to leading the Illini to a season-high .423 team hitting percentage to go along with a match-high nine digs.

The Illini totaled nine service aces on the night, with Brown, Quade and junior Morgan O'Brien each tallying two.

LAST WEEK STANDOUTS

Redshirt-freshman Diana Brown handed out 82 assists for a 11.71 helpers per set en route to leading the Illini to a .256 hitting percentage, while also totaling 23 digs for a 3.29 digs per set in two matches last week. 

Junior Megan Cooney and senior Jacqueline Quade led the Illini attack with 27 kills each for a 3.86 kills per set mark. 

Defensively, junior Morgan O'Brien registered a 4.29 digs per mark set with 30 total digs and freshman Kennedy Collins turned in seven blocks to pace the squad.

ILLINI CLOSING IN ON PROGRAM'S 1,000TH WIN

The Illinois volleyball program entered the 2019 season with an overall record of 989-558-7 (.639) in 45 seasons and with nine wins so far in the 2019 campaign, the Illini are just two wins from the historic 1,000th victory in program history with a 998-564-7 (.638) record. 

ILLINI IN PROGRAM RECORD BOOK

With a .405 career hitting percentage in her two seasons as an Illini, senior Ashlyn Fleming ranks second all-time in progam history, sitting behind Illinois Hall of Famer Mary Eggers with a .421 attack clip. Fleming has registered 368 kills with 81 errors on 709 swings in 51 matches played. 

Joining her in the record book is classmate Jacqueline Quade, who's 4,073attacks rank seventh all-time in program history.Quade also sits ninth in kills (1,562) and points (1,755.0).

NCAA ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS

Senior Ashlyn Fleming ranks 10th in the NCAA active careers leaders with a .365 hitting percentage with 921 kills on 232 errors and 1,886 swings.  

Classmate Jacqueline Quade also sits 10th in NCAA active career leaders with 1,563 kills in her four-year career. 

ILLINI RANKED NO. 17 IN AVCA POLL

The Illinois volleyball team remained in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Coaches Top 25 Poll for the eighth-straight week, coming in at No. 17 in this week's rankings. The Illini opened the season with a No. 6 preseason ranking, before moving up one spot for a season-high ranking of No. 5 the following week. 

Illinois is one of six Big Ten schools ranked the AVCA Poll, including No. 5 Nebraska, No. 6 Wisconsin, No. 7 Minnesota, No. 8 Penn State and No. 20 Purdue, while Michigan is also receiving votes. Along with their conference foes, the Illini have faced two other opponents in the top-25, including No. 12 Marquette and No. 10 Washington.

HEAD COACH CHRIS TAMAS IN THIRD SEASON AT THE HELM OF ILLINI VOLLEYBALL

Chris Tamas is in his third season as head coach of the Fighting Illini volleyball program in 2019 after being named to the position in February 2017. Tamas (pronounced Thomas) is the eighth head coach in Illinois history.

In his first two seasons at the helm of the program, Tamas made an immediate impact on Illinois volleyball and currently owns an overall record of 64-21 (.753), including a 33-13 (.717) mark in the nation's toughest volleyball league, the Big Ten Conference.

Illinois experienced one of its most successful seasons ever in 2018 under Tamas, who was named American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Northeast Region Coach of the Year. The Illini made the program's fourth-ever appearance in the NCAA National Semifinals as the No. 3 overall seed in the tournament – riding a 17-match win streak into the Final Four - and ended the season ranked No. 3 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Coaches Poll. The team registered a 32-4 overall record and finished in second place in the Big Ten Conference with a 17-3 mark, with the 32 victories ranking tied for fourth-most wins in school history.

ILLINI ADVANCE TO FOURTH-EVER NCAA FINAL FOUR IN HISTORIC 2018 SEASON

The Illini are coming off an historic 2018 season that saw the Orange & Blue make the program's fourth appearance in the NCAA National Semifinals after earning the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Illini ended the season with a 32-4 overall record – with the 32 wins ranking fourth-most in program history - and finished in second place in the Big Ten Conference with a 17-3 mark.