B1G RELEASE
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – After back-to-back conference road wins over the weekend for No. 17 Illinois volleyball, senior Ashlyn Fleming was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week and redshirt-freshman Diana Brown garnered Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week accolades, the conference announced on Monday (October 7).
This marks the first and second weekly conference honors the Illini have earned this season and the first-career weekly honors for the pair.
The duo led the Illini to back-to-back Big Ten Conference road wins over the weekend starting with a 3-0 sweep of Indiana on Friday, before taking a 3-1 victory over then-No. 17 Purdue in West Lafayette.
Fleming led the Illini with 11 blocks for a 1.57 stuffs per set average in the two wins as UI held its opponents to a .113 team hitting percentage, while the senior also added 20 kills on a .333 hitting percentage. The San Jose, California native started her weekend off with a match-high six blocks go to along with 11 kills on a .500 hitting percentage against the Hoosiers and then added five blocks, nine kills and an ace in the win over the Boilermakers on Sunday.
Brown turned in back-to-back double-doubles for another strong weekend for the redshirt-freshman, totaling 82 assists for a 11.71 assists per set mark and 24 digs for a 3.43 digs per set average. She also added eight blocks, three service aces and three kills on a .273 hitting percentage with no errors in the two wins.
The Columbus, Ohio local directed the Illini record their best hitting percentage of the season on the Friday against the Hoosiers, notching a .337 attack clip with marks of .462 and .324 in the second and third sets, respectively. She registered her seventh double-double of the season against IU with 31 assists and a team-high 11 digs, while adding three blocks and two aces in the win. She followed that up with her eighth double-double of the season against the ranked Boilermakers with 51 assists and 13 digs to go along with a career-high five blocks, two kills and an ace.
Fleming, Brown and the Illini return to Huff Hall for a two-match homestand this week as they host No. 6 Minnesota in a Big Ten Network match-up on Wednesday (October 9) at 8 p.m. CT, before facing off against Indiana for the second time in eight days on Saturday (October 12) at 7 p.m. CT.
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