EVANSTON, Ill. – The Fighting Illini closed its four-match road swing with a sweep against Northwestern at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Illinois extended its winning streak to five matches and now holds a 7-1 record in conference play and a 12-5 overall mark.
Taylor de Boer tallied a team-high 14 kills, her eighth straight effort with 10+ kills. She also made two digs while leading the team in kills for the 13th time this season.
Alyssa Aguayo posted her third consecutive outing in double figures with 12 kills and a career-best .423 hitting percentage. She also filled the stat sheet with seven digs, four assists, three blocks, and an ace.
Auburn Tomkinson amassed six kills, three digs, and two blocks, while Ashlyn Philpot added six kills, two digs, and two blocks, including a solo stuff.
Kenna Phelan recorded 31 assists, eight digs, four kills, and an ace. Averie Hernandez finished with two aces, while Kenzie Cogan collected eight digs. Kayla Burbage notched four kills and four blocks.
The home side jumped out to a quick 5-2 edge, maintaining the lead for a majority of the first half of the set. With the Illini facing an 11-8 deficit, the visitors began a 10-3 run to establish a four-point edge, which soon grew to five. A late 3-0 stretch from the Wildcats saw the home side cut their deficit to two, though the Orange and Blue closed out the frame shortly after, 25-22.
With Northwestern in front by one early, the Illini used a 5-1 run to take an 8-5 advantage. The Wildcats called a timeout down by three, but the Orange and Blue continued their momentum after the brief stoppage. A 9-3 stretch from the visitors pushed the lead up to 21-13, though the hosts fought back to cut the Illini lead down to four. Northwestern fought off four set points, but an Aguayo kill thwarted the Wildcat comeback, 25-22, doubling Illinois' advantage.
The Illini fell behind by four early in the third set, but a 5-0 run put the visitors in front and forced the Wildcats to use a timeout. NU went back in front shortly after, but a 4-0 stretch from the Orange and Blue helped the away side take a 15-13 edge. With the sides trading points the rest of the way, the Illini fended off two Wildcat set points before ultimately scoring the final three points of the frame en route to a 27-25 decision and the sweep.
NOTES
- Taryn Kirsch totaled six assists and four digs.
- Had at least six assists for the fourth time this season.
- Taylor de Boer tallied a team-high 14 kills and made two digs.
- Had double-digit kills for the 15th time this season.
- Has 10+ kills in all eight Big Ten matches and in 10 of her last 11 appearances overall.Â
- Kenna Phelan recorded 31 assists, eight digs, four kills, and an ace.
- Equaled her career-high with four kills.
- Has four kills in three matches this season.
- Averie Hernandez posted two kills, two aces, and three digs.
- Notched multiple aces for the fifth time this season.
- Kayla Burbage notched four kills and four blocks.
- Made at least four blocks for the 10th time this season.
- Has at least three blocks in each of the last 12 matches and at least four in five consecutive outings.
- Has multiple blocks in 14 straight matches and in 16 appearances overall.
- Kenzie Cogan collected eight digs, two assists, and an ace.
- Has at least seven digs in each of the last six matches.
- Has multiple assists in back-to-back matches for the first time in her career.
- Has an ace in six straight matches.
- Ashlyn Philpot added six kills, two digs, and two blocks.
- Has multiple blocks in 16 of her 17 appearances this season.
- Has multiple blocks in each of the last 12 consecutive outings.
- Had 6+ kills for the fifth straight match and for the 13th time overall.
- Alyssa Aguayo filled the stat sheet with 12 kills, seven digs, four assists, three blocks, and an ace.
- Tallied 10+ kills for the 13th time this season.
- Has double-digit kills in three straight appearances and in four of her last five.
- Equaled her career-high with four assists.
- Tallied four assists for the third time this season.
- Had at least three blocks for the fourth time.
- Has multiple blocks in eight matches this season.
- With a 7-1 Big Ten record, the Illini are off to their best start to conference play since 2011, when Illinois won its first nine Big Ten matches.
- The Illini have now won their last four Big Ten road matches, their longest streak since Oct. 20-Nov. 19, 2021.
- Head coach Chris Tamas moved to 161-99 overall during his time at the helm of the Illini.
- Illinois extended its winning streak to five matches, its longest streak of the season.
- The Illini moved to 68-32 all-time against Northwestern.
- UI holds a 28-16 record against the Wildcats in true road matches.
- Illinois is now 6-1 in three-set matches this season.
- Illinois is now 7-2 in true road matches this season.
- The Illini moved to 3-0 when wearing orange jerseys.
UP NEXT
Illinois (12-5, 7-1 B1G) returns to Huff Hall for a two-match homestand next weekend. The Fighting Illini will play #12 Purdue on Friday at 7 p.m. CT before hosting Michigan on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT. Both matches will stream on B1G+.
