vs. #6 Minnesota & Indiana
Match 14: #6 Minnesota (10-2, 4-0 B1G)	Wednesday, October 9, 2019 | 8 p.m. CT | Huff Hall | Champaign, Ill. TV: BTN | Radio: WDWS 1400 | Livestats
Match 15: Indiana (12-5, 1-3 B1G)	Saturday, October 12, 2019 | 7 p.m. CT | Huff Hall | Champaign, Ill. Video: BTN Plus Radio: WDWS 1400 | Livestats
Full Match Notes	Illinois
2019 Statistics	Illinois | Minnesota | Indiana
Series History	Minnesota: Illinois leads, 39-37-1 | Last: Illinois lost, 0-3, on 10/12//2018 |  Streak: Lost 1 | Results Indiana: Illinois leads, 69-17 | Last: Illinois won, 3-0, on 10/4/2019 |  Streak: Won 15 | Results
Tickets	To Purchase: Minnesota | Indiana
Parking & Shuttle Information	Parking Information MTD Volleyball tranSPORT Shuttle | Shuttle Information  All fans can park & ride MTD's tranSPORT service for free from the Bielfeldt Athletic Admin Building to Huff Hall. Shuttle Schedule: Service begins 90 minutes prior to match and one hour after the completion of match
Social Media	@IlliniVball  | #Illini  | Facebook  | @IlliniVBall  | YouTube

PROMOTIONS   

Minnesota | Wednesday, October 9 | 8 PM CT 

Pride Night - Help us celebrate the LGBTQ+ community!

Pink Jersey Silent Auction - will be held at the Networkers Table

Giveaway - Diversity and Inclusion laptop stickers for first 500 fans
                  -$2 skittles at the concession stand  

Indiana | Saturday, October 12 | 7 PM CT

Dynamic Duo Night - Orange and Blue, Batman and Robin, Chris and Jen Tamas... Grab a friend and come in your best dynamic duo costume! 

Pink Jersey Silent Auction - will be held at the Networkers Table

Giveaway - Salt and pepper shakers for the first 150 fans 

Ticket Deal - Bring your football ticket stub from the Illinois Football game vs Michigan and receive one complimentary general admission tickets to this match

ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD

The No. 17 Illinois volleyball team returns to Huff Hall for a two-match homestand this week as the Illini host No. 7 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. 

The Illini own a 39-37-1 advantage in the all-time series with the Gophers and also hold a 19-18 edge in Champaign. The Gophers took the only meeting between the two teams a season ago in a 3-0 setback on October 12 in Minneapolis, but the Illini earned a 3-1 upset victory over UM in the last meeting in Huff Hall on Nov. 18, 2017. The win marked the first win over Minnesota for UI since a sweep in Huff Hall on October 1, 2014.

The Illini hold a 69-17 all-time record against Indiana - including a 34-5 mark at home - and have won 15-straight dating back to the 2011 season. Illinois most recently took a 3-0 sweep of the Hoosiers on last Friday (October 4) night, needing only an hour and 20 minutes for the victory in Bloomington, Indiana.

FIRST RPI RELEASED BY NCAA

The NCAA released its first RPI of the season with the Illini ranked 22nd nationally. 

ILLINI EARN STATE OF INDIANA SWEEP

Illinois earned back-to-back Big Ten Conference road wins over the weekend starting with a 3-0 sweep at Indiana on Friday (October 4), before taking a 3-1 victory over No. 17 Purdue in West Lafayette on Sunday (October 6). 

The Illini registered a .272 team hitting percentage, while holding their opponents to a .113 attack clip after outblocking the Hoosiers and the Boilermakers, 24 to 13 on the weekend. 

FLEMING & BROWN COLLECT B1G WEEKLY HONORS

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.

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.

LAST WEEK STANDOUTS

Junior Megan Cooney led the Illini with 30 kills on 53 swings for a 4.29 kills per set average on an impressive .415 hitting percentage, while adding five blocks and three digs in wins at Indiana and No. 17 Purdue. She opened her weekend with a match-high 11 kills in 17 swings and only one error for a .588 attack clip to go along with three blocks and two digs in a win over the Hoosiers on Friday night. She then tied her career-high with 19 kills on a .333 hitting percentage in a road win against the Boilermakers on Sunday.

Senior Jacqueline Quade also notched 28 kills on the weekend, while recording a team-high 27 digs for a 3.86 digs per set and five service aces, while adding five blocks.

Sophomore Mica Allison added 16 kills on a .344 attack clip and five blocks, while freshman Kennedy Collins contributed 10 blocks for a 1.43 stuffs per set mark. 

NCAA ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS

Senior Ashlyn Fleming ranks 10th in the NCAA active careers leaders with a .363 hitting percentage with 902 kills on 229 errors and 1,852 swings, while also sitting 10th with 428 total blocks in her four-year career.  

Classmate Jacqueline Quade also sits ninth in NCAA active career leaders with 1,508 kills in her four-year career. 

ILLINI IN B1G RANKINGS

Several Illini are ranked in the top 15 in the Big Ten Conference statistics. 

Along with Jacqueline Quade leading the league in kills per set, redshirt-freshman Diana Brown sits sixth with 10.63 assists per set after handing out 574 helpers in 54 sets. 

Senior Ashlyn Fleming also ranks ninth with a .366 hitting percentage and is 10th with 1.19 blocks per set, while there are three Illini in the top 15 in service aces per set: Quade (0.33) tied at 12th and junior Morgan O'Brien and sophomore Taylor Kuper (0.32) tied at 14th. 

In Big Ten play, Quade paces the league with 0.60 aces per set and is third with 4.00 kills per period and 14th with 3.07 digs per set, with junior Megan Cooney sitting 12th with 3.33 kills per set. Brown owns the fifth-best assists per set ratio at 11.40 and is tied for 13th with 0.33 aces per set. 

Rounding things out is Fleming, who is eighth with a .381 attack clip and seventh with a 1.27 blocks per set mark. 

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 seventh-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 Minnesota, No. 7 Wisconsin, 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. 10 Marquette and No. 11 Washington.

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 eight wins so far in the 2019 campaign, the Illini are just three wins from the historic 1,000th victory in program history. 

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 63-20 (.759), including a 32-12 (.727) 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.