CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois volleyball opened Big Ten action with back-to-back victories after sweeping Northwestern Saturday night. The Orange and Blue used 6-0 runs in both the second and third sets to create separation from the Wildcats and ultimately earn their fourth sweep of the season.
Illinois climbed to 7-5 on the campaign and sits atop the Big Ten at 2-0 after a week of league play. Northwestern moved to 11-3 and 0-2 in conference play following the sweep.
The Wildcats – along with the Illini – are both receiving votes in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll. Northwestern had 17 points in the latest poll while the Orange and Blue tallied five.
With wins over Northwestern in each of the last three meetings, Illinois now leads the all-time series 64-30. UI holds a 35-9 advantage when facing the in-state rivals inside Huff Hall.
Set one saw the Illini cruise out to an 11-4 lead and eventually double up the Wildcats at 16-8. Northwestern battled all the way back and would even hold a set point at 24-23 before Illinois scored the final three points of the frame to take a 1-0 lead in the match with the 26-24 win. Raina Terry struck for kills to knot the match at 24-24 and give UI the lead at 25-24 before Kayla Burbage secured the set with a kill of her own. The Illini operated at an efficient .323 hitting clip in the frame – a match best for the Orange and Blue.
Northwestern opened an early lead in set two at 8-6 before a 3-0 run by the Illini flipped the script to 9-8 in favor of the hosts. NU would even the score on the next point before a successful challenge by Chris Tamas pushed Illinois into double digits first. From there, Northwestern surged ahead to a 14-12 and 15-14 lead but Illinois would use a three- and six-point run from there to secure a 25-18 second set victory.
Third set action saw the visitors strike first with a couple points before the benches would work out to six ties and five lead changes before the frame was over. Northwestern was the first to double digits with a 10-8 advantage that would stretch to a four-point span at 16-12. From there, the Illini scored five of the next six points to even the set at 17-17. NU took the lead one more time with a kill for a slim 18-17 margin before Illinois strung together a 6-0 on the serve of Diana Brown for a 23-18 lead. The sides traded the final four points of the match, which would end with the 14th kill of the night from Terry.
Illinois operated at a weekend-high .261 hitting percentage collectively in the win. Brown dished out 29 assists with Caroline Barnes adding four more.
Brown would also lead Illinois with 10 digs for her fourth-straight match with a double double. She's now up to 47 across her career.
Terry led the Illini in the kill category with 14 to bring her weekend total to 34. The junior also added a season-high five blocks.
Burbage tallied nine kills on .273 hitting for Illinois followed by Kennedy Collins at six kills and a .385 efficiency. Brooke Mosher added five kills and Kyla Swanson tallied three more.
Swanson led the way for the Orange and Blue in blocks with a season-high of seven.
The Illini defense held Northwestern to a .187 hitting percentage on the night, despite the Wildcats striking for two more kills than Illinois.
Illinois also won the battle from the service line, racking up eight aces to NU's one. Brown recorded three of those strikes with Barnes contributing two of her own.
Next up, Illinois will host No. 10 Purdue to close its first stretch of home matches on the campaign. Action will get underway at 7 p.m. against the Boilermakers on Friday, Sept. 30, with the match available on B1G+.
Notes:
- Starters: Kennedy Collins, Diana Brown, Kyla Swanson, Kayla Burbage, Caroline Barnes, Raina Terry and Sophie Gregus.
- The Illini wore white sleeveless jerseys for the first time of the season and are now 1-0 when wearing those.
- Diana Brown recorded her seventh double double of the season (29 assists, 10 digs) and 47th of her career.
- Illinois is now 64-30 all-time against Northwestern, including a 35-9 mark when playing in Huff Hall.
- Attendance Saturday night was called at 2,320, bringing the weekend total to 4,593.
