ILLINOIS VS. THE FIELD
The No. 24 Illinois volleyball team Illini team is set to wrap up the 2019 regular season on Saturday (November 30) as the Illini take on Northwestern for second in four days in a 7 p.m. CT match in Welsh-Ryan Arena.
The Illini lead the all-time series with the Wildcats, 61-19, and are 25-13 on the road. UI have won 10-straight against its in-state rival, including a 3-1 win in Wednesday's home regular season finale.
ILLINI SEND OFF SENIORS IN STYLE WITH 3-1 WIN OVER WILDCATS
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 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.
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.
BROWN TABBED FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
After a weekend road sweep of Maryland and Ohio State, redshirt-freshman Diana Brown was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week, the conference announced on Monday (November 25).
This marks the second-career weekly honor Brown has collected after collecting the honor earlier this season on October 7. It is the fourth weekly conference honor the Illini have received this season with junior Morgan O'Brien and senior Ashlyn Fleming each also earning Defensive Player of the Week honors on November 18 and October 7, respectively.
Brown totaled 85 assists and 19 digs in the two road victories to average 12.14 helpers and 2.71 digs per set, while directing the Illini to a .227 team hitting percentage. She also added three kills on a .500 hitting percentage and two blocks.
LAST WEEK STANDOUTS
Senior Ashlyn Fleming totaled 20 kills with only three errors on 39 swings for a .436 hitting percentage and was strong defensively with 11 total blocks for a 1.57 blocks per set average in her middle blocker position. She added four service aces and four digs in the two wins over Maryland and Ohio State.
Classmate Jacqueline Quade registered a team-leading 31 kills for a 4.43 kills per set mark, while also posting 18 digs for a 2.57 digs per set average.
Redshirt-freshman Diana Brown totaled 85 assists in the two matches for a 12.14 assists per set, while also posting 19 digs for a 2.71 digs per set mark. She added three kills on a .500 hitting percentage and two blocks, while directing the Illini to a .227 team hitting percentage.
Junior Morgan O'Brien led the Illini with 32 digs for a 4.57 digs per set.
As a team, the Illini recorded 17 service aces, with sophomore Taylor Kuper totaling a team-high five aces and Fleming adding four aces.
NCAA RPI RANKING
Illinois comes in at No. 43 in the latest NCAA RPI ranking after debuting in the first RPI of the season on October 14 ranked 22nd nationally.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Senior Jacqueline Quade leads with 22 career double-doubles, including seven during the 2019 season.
Redshirt-freshman Diana Brown paces the team with 13 double-doubles on the season, while junior Morgan O'Brien has one double-double on the season - the first of her career with 14 digs and 10 assists at Penn State on October 23.
ILLINI IN PROGRAM RECORD BOOK
Senior Jacqueline Quade is quickly moving up the Illinois volleyball record books, ranking fourth all-time in program history with 1,750 kills and is 24 kills from moving into a tie for third place with Illinois Athletics Hall of the Famer Mary Eggers Tendler with 1,774 kills. Quade also ranks fourth with 4,618 attacks and is fifth with 1,971.5 points in her four-year career.
With a .382 career hitting percentage in her two seasons as an Illini, senior Ashlyn Fleming ranks third all-time in progam history, sitting behind Illinois Hall of Famer Mary Eggers (1985-88) with a .421 attack clip and Kristen Gleis (1992) with a .386 attack clip. Fleming has registered 478 kills with 117 errors on 944 swings in 64 matches played.
Junior Morgan O'Brien recently moved into the top-10 in digs and is currently seventh with 1,174 digs in her three seasons. She also ranks fifth in program history with a 3.42 digs per set mark.
Redshirt-freshman Diana Brown sits seventh with a 10.99 assists per set average in her first season on the court.
ILLINI RANKED NO. 24 IN AVCA POLL
The Illinois volleyball team remained in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Coaches Top 25 Poll for the 14th-straight week, moving up one spot from the last two weeks to No. 24 in the most recent 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 seven Big Ten schools ranked the AVCA Poll, including No. 5 Wisconsin, No. 6 Nebraska, No. 7 Penn State, No. 8 Minnesota, No. 16 Purdue and No. 22 Michigan. Along with their conference foes, the Illini have faced two other opponents in the top-25, including No. 9 Washington and No. 12 Marquette.
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 71-27 (.725), including a 40-19 (.678) 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.
