CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 24 Illinois volleyball team wrapped up the 2019 regular season home slate and sent off seniors Ashlyn Fleming, Caroline Welsh, Jacqueline Quade and redshirt-senior Beth Prince off in style with a 3-1 (25-18, 25-22, 23-25, 25-18) win over Northwestern on Senior Night on Wednesday (November 27) in Huff Hall.
The Illini (16-12, 11-8 B1G) were paced by Quade with a match-high 20 kills on a .357 hitting percentage to go along with 11 digs for her 22nd career double-double and ninth of the season. Joining her in double figures was Fleming with 12 kills on a .417 hitting percentage, with the San Jose, Calif., native also equaling a season-high with nine blocks in the win. Junior Megan Cooney also added 12 kills on the night.
Redshirt-freshman Diana Brown came within one dig of a double-double with 52 assists, nine digs and four blocks, while leading the Illini to a .297 team attack clip.
Defensively, junior Morgan O'Brien turned in a team-high 13 digs, with sophomore Taylor Kuper also contributing nine in the victory. Along with Fleming leading at the net, sophomore Mica Allison notched four blocks in the match.
It was a back-and-forth start to the match, but the Illini broke a 14-14 tie with five-straight points on the service of Fleming. The Wildcats fought back to within two at 20-18, but the Illini again answered with a 5-0 run on the Welsh serve to take the opener, 25-18.
The Illini took their momentum into the second to jump out to a 12-4 advantage and continued to lead throughout the set, but NU used a 9-4 run to pull within 20-18. The two teams then traded points and with the Illini leading 23-22, a solo stuff from Fleming and a Cooney kill sent the home team to a 25-22 set win.
In another quick start, the Illini grabbed an early 7-3 lead following a Cooney and Fleming block. From there, the visitors would come back and tie it at 8-8, before taking a 15-12 edge on three-straight scores. After NU pushed its lead to 20-15, the Illini used a 4-0 run to close within 20-19 and then tied things up at 23-23 on a block from Fleming and Allison. The Wildcats then extended the match with back-to-back points for the 25-23 set three win.
It was a closely contested start to the fourth as an Illini service error brought the visitors within 11-9, but a 7-2 run pushed the lead to 18-11 following a NU miscue. The two teams then traded points until the Wildcats strung three together at 23-18, before an NU attack error combined with a Brown and Fleming stuff to seal the 25-18 set win and the 3-1 match victory.
The Illini next head to Evanston, Ill., for the regular season finale against Northwestern on Saturday (November 30) at 7 p.m. CT in Welsh-Ryan Arena.
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