CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois volleyball picked up its sixth-straight victory when the team swept Northwestern at Huff Hall on Wednesday night.
With the win, the Fighting Illini own a 13-10 on the year with a 8-5 mark in Big Ten play. The Wildcats moved to 11-12 this season and 5-8 in league play.
The Orange and Blue recorded 50 kills as a team while hitting .268 in the match. Raina Terry led the way with 22 kills, her eighth match this season with 20 or more kills. Defensively, Caroline Barnes shined with 18 digs and Cari Bohm tallied five blocks. Jessica Nunge tied her season best with three aces and Brooke Mosher dished out a team-high 40 assists.
How it happened
In the opening frame, the Illini used a 4-0 run that included an ace by Barnes to claim the 12-11 advantage, leading to a Wildcat timeout. However, a 4-0 turn favored Northwestern and put the Illini squad behind, 16-13. With Nunge behind the service line, Illinois added a 3-0 run to hold the 20-19 edge late in the set. Back-and-forth the squads battled, leveling the frame at 23 before kills by Mosher and Nunge closed out the 25-23 victory. Terry impressed in the opening set, recording nine of the team's 14 kills.
The Fighting Illini built on their momentum from the first frame, starting the second set with an 8-1 run. The Orange and Blue continued to dominate and following Terry's 13th kill of the match, and the Wildcats called for their final break of the set with Illinois ahead, 13-6. Northwestern did not go away quietly, using a 3-0 rally to come within a pair before the Illini used a timeout, clinging to the 19-17 advantage. With the frame tied at 20, Kayla Burbage added a kill from the pin to bring the Illini ahead by a score. An attack error by the Wildcats helped the Illini reach set point before Mosher went over on two to claim the 25-22 frame in favor of the Orange and Blue.
Illinois went point-for-point with the Wildcats to begin the third set with the Illini holding onto the 15-12 edge at the media break. Northwestern chipped away at the Illini advantage and an ace for the Wildcats knotted the set at 19 before the Orange and Blue called a timeout. Nunge put the ball away to even things at 21 before Northwestern burned a timeout of its own. Bohm and Burbage gave the Illini squad match point and Terry sent a ball cross court to close out the 25-23 win and the sweep.
Up Next
The Fighting Illini pack their bags as the team heads to #2 Wisconsin for a match on Saturday night. First serve from Madison is slated for 7 p.m. on Big Ten Network.
Notes
- Starters: Brooke Mosher, Raina Terry, Kayla Burbage, Kennedy Collins, Lily Barry, Cari Bohm and Caroline Barnes
- Illinois moved to 6-3 with this lineup.
- The Illini wore sleeveless white jerseys moving to 7-1 this year while donning those.
- The Illinois volleyball program moved to 65-31 against Northwestern all time.
- Head coach Chris Tamas owns a 9-2 record against the Wildcats.
- Illinois improved to 2-4 in nationally televised matches.
- The last time the Fighting Illini won six-straight was 2021.
           - The team topped Missouri, Illinois State, North Texas, Iowa, Northwestern and #4 Purdue from Sept. 17- Oct. 1 before having the streak snapped by #5 Wisconsin on Oct. 3.
- Terry tallied her 1,500th career kill in the first set.
- The outside hitter owns 1,515 career kills, ranking her 10th all-time at Illinois.
- The Ohio Native also added an ace to bring her total to 151. Putting her fifth all-time in the Illini record books.
- Terry tallied 22 kills for her 18th match with 20 or more kills.
- Vanessa Pan posted her 10 digs, tallying double digits for the fifth time this year.
- Barnes added 18 digs marking the ninth-straight match the libero reached double digits.
- Illinois moved to 3-5 in three-set matches.
- Attendance on Wednesday night was called at 2,023.
