2022 Volleyball Roster
Jersey Number 5
Diana Brown
- Position:
- Setter
- Class:
- Redshirt Senior
- Height:
- 6-0
- Hometown:
- Columbus, Ohio
- High School:
- St. Francis DeSales HS
 NCAA Final Four 2018 |
 2x CSC Academic All-American |
 University of Illinois Graduate |
 All-Big Ten Freshman Team |
 3x CSC Academic All-District |
Redshirt-Senior - 2022
- CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team
- CoSIDA Academic All-District
- Wayne Duke Scholarship Recipient
- Dayton Invite MVP
- Big Ten Sportsmanship Award
- Academic All-Big Ten
- Oskees Outstanding Scholar-Athlete Award
- Started in all 30 matches
- Led the team with 14 double-doubles during her senior season
- Logged 1,101 assists during the year
- Posted 50 or more assists on three-separate occasions against Minnesota (11/6/22) against Purdue (9/30/22) and at Wisconsin (10/2/22)…
- Tallied a season-high 53 assists against Minnesota (11/6/22)
- Posted a season-high 18 digs twice against Minnesota (11/6/22) and at Wisconsin (10/2/22)
- Recorded four service aces against Villanova (9/10/22)
- Logged a solo block against Northwestern (9/24/22) at Ohio State (10/19/22), against Purdue (9/30/22) and at Penn State (10/9/22)
- Logged total blocks and block assists against Michigan State (11/18/22)
- Amassed a pair of kills against Missouri State (9/9/22) and Maryland (9/23/22)
Redshirt-Junior - 2021
- CoSIDA Academic All-America Second-Team
- CoSIDA Academic All-District
- Academic All-Big Ten
- Big Ten Setter of the Week (9/20/21)
- Redbird Classic MVP and All-Tournament Team
- Panther Invite All-Tournament Team
- Started all 34 matches on the season at the setter position, playing in all 127 sets - only one of two players to do both on the team.
- Totaled 1,310 assists for a 10.31 assists per set mark to rank sixth in the Big Ten while leading the Illini to a .229 team hitting percentage.
- Ranked second on the team with 309 digs and fourth on the team with 75 blocks, while adding 51 kills and 28 service aces.
- Led all Illini players with 16 double-doubles.
- Led Illini to a .319 hitting percentage with 105 assists for a 13.13 assists per set in the NCAA first and second rounds, registering a season-high 53 assists to go along with 14 digs and a career-high-tying three aces vs. West Virginia (12/3/21). Then handed out 52 assists as she led the Illini to a .331 team hitting percentage, while also registering 16 digs for her 40th career double-double and 16th of the season at Kentucky (12/4/21(.
- Handed out 30 assists as she directed the Illini to a team hitting percentage of .333, while also turning in six dig, four blocks and three aces at Michigan Stat (11/26/21).
- Guided Illini to a .327 hitting percentage with 39 assists, six digs and two kills vs. Maryland (11/21/21).
- Directed the Illini to a season-high .383 team hitting percentage as she passed out 39 assists, while adding three blocks vs. Indiana (11/12/21).
- Equaled a season-high with 52 assists as she directed the Illini offense to a .299 hitting percentage while also turning in nine digs at No. 13 Penn State (10/30/21).
- Registered her 35th career double-double and team-leading 11th of the season with 46 assists and 10 digs at Rutgers (10/29/21).
- Notched 38 assists to go along with 12 digs and a career-high-tying five blocks for her 34th-career double-double and her team-leading 10th of the season vs. Michigan (10/23/21).
- Handed out 32 assists en route to directing the Illini to a .326 team attack clip, while also notching four blocks and a pair of service aces in a sweep of Iowa (10/13/21).
- Tied a career-high with four blocks at No. 4 Wisconsin (10/9/21).
- Notched 50 assists, 15 digs and four blocks in a win at No. 4 Purdue (10/1/21).
- Posted a season-high 52 assists as she directed UI to a .336 team hitting percentage, while adding nine digs against Northwestern (9/25/21).
- Posted her 29th career double-double and fifth of the season with 38 assists and a career-high 20 digs in a win at Iowa (9/22/21).
- Registered 103 assists for a 11.44 assists per set mark to lead the Illini to a .319 team hitting percentage at the Redbird Classic, while adding 17 digs and six blocks.
- Guided UI to a season-best .375 hitting percentage at Illinois State (9/17/21) after handing out 35 assists to go along with five digs and two blocks.
- Handed out 111 assists en route to leading the Illini to a .229 team hitting percentage at the Bluejay Invitational, including back-to-back .306 attack clips against Omaha and SMU (9/10/21).
- Passed out 39 assists, while also turning in 15 digs and two blocks for her fourth double-double of the season against No. 19 Creighton (9/11).
- Registered her third double-double of the season with 47 assists, 17 digs, and one ace vs. No. 11 Washington (9/3/21).
- Notched a season-high 47 assists and a career-high 17 digs vs. Washington (9/3/21).
- Totaled 115 assists for a 10.45 assists per set, while adding 26 digs for a 2.36 digs per set, five kills on a .308 hitting percentage, four blocks and four service aces at the Panther Invite.
- Notched her second double-double of the season with 35 assists, 10 digs, two aces, one solo block and a kill in a win over Valpo (8/28/21).
- Opened the season with her 25th career double-double with 48 assists, 10 digs, two kills and an ace in a season-opening win against UCSB (8/27/21).
Redshirt-Sophomore - 2020-21
- CoSIDA Academic All-District First-Team
- Big Ten Distinguished Scholar
- Academic All-Big Ten
- Oskees Outstanding Scholar-Athlete Award (junior class)
- Started all 18 matches for the Illini in the conference-only 2020-21 shortened season
- Handed out 542 assists for a 7.63 assists per set mark, while also ranking second on the team with 190 digs
- Led all Illini players with 10 double-doubles, while adding 29 blocks, 17 kills and 11 service aces
- Registered her team-leading 10th double-double of the season with 46 assists and 14 digs, while also adding three blocks and three kills in a five-set win at No. 8 Purdue (4/3).
- Notched her fifth-straight double-double with 32 assists, team-highs of 10 digs and three blocks as well as posting three kills on a .500 attack clip, while also directing the Illini to their highest hitting percentage of the season with a .284 percentage vs. Indiana (3/26).
- Registered a double-double with 48 assists and a career-high-tying 17 digs, while also contributing a match-high five blocks in a five-set win over Maryland (3/20/21).
- Totaled 39 assists and a team-high 16 digs to go along with a pair of blocks in a win vs. Maryland (3/19/21).
- Registered a double-double with 26 assists and a team-high 11 digs at No. 5 Minnesota (3/13/21).
- Recorded a double-double with 53 assists and tied career-highs with 17 digs and five blocks at No. 5 Minnesota (3/12/21).
- Passed out a season-high 32 assists, while adding eight digs and two blocks vs. No. 4 Nebraska (3/6/21).
- Tallied a double-double with a season-high 26 assists to go with 13 digs vs. Ohio State (2/20/21).
- Posted back-to-back double-doubles at Penn State (2/5-6/21) with 24 assists in both matches and 15 digs on Friday and 10 digs on Saturday.
- Registered her first double-double of the season with 24 assists and 12 digs vs. No. 1 Wisconsin (1/30/21).
Redshirt-Freshman - 2019
- Big Ten All-Freshman Team
- B1G Co-Freshman of the Week (10/7)
- Big Ten Distinguished Scholar
- Academic All-Big Ten
- Started all 30 matches on the season at the setter position, playing in all 118 sets - only one of three players to do both on the team.
- Totaled 1,294 assists for a 10.97 assists per set mark to rank fourth in the Big Ten while leading the Illini to a .231 team hitting percentage.
- Ranked second on the team with 275 digs and third on the team with 59 blocks, while adding 55 kills and 18 service aces.
- Registered her team-leading 14th double-double with 53 assists, a team-high 11 digs, and three blocks against Utah (12/6) in the NCAA Tournament First Round.
- 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 in a win over Northwestern (11/27)
- Registered 12.14 assists and 2.71 digs per set, while adding three kills on a .500 hitting percentage and two blocks and directed the Illini to a .227 team hitting percentage in a weekend sweep at Maryland (11/22) and Ohio State (11/24).
- Handed out 38 assists en route to guiding the Illini to a .308 team hitting percentage over Rutgers (11/16).
- Registered her 12th double-double of the season with 48 assists and a team-high 16 digs, while guiding the Illini to a .211 team attack clip at No. 8 Penn State (10/23/19).
- Earned her second-straight and team-leading 11th double-double of the season with 50 assists and 14 digs at No. 7 Minnesota (10/20).
- Handed out 31 assists en route to leading the Illini to a season-high .423 team hitting percentage to go along with a match-high nine digs.Earned her third-straight double-double after handing out 51 assists and notching 14 digs vs. No. 6 Minnesota (10/9).
- Earned Big Ten Conference Co-Freshman of the Week after posting back-to-back double-doubles in wins at Indiana (10/4) and No. 17 Purdue (10/6) en route to totaling 82 assists for a 11.71 assists per set mark on the weekend, while also registering 24 digs for a 3.43 digs per set average, eight blocks, three service aces and three kills on a .273 hitting percentage with no errors.
- Notched a career-high five blocks to go along with 51 assists, 13 digs, two kills and an ace in a win over the Boilermakers (10/6).
- Posted a career-high six kills on a .385 hitting percentage, while handing out 38 assists in a sweep of Iowa (9/28).
- Earned her team-leading sixth double-double of the season as she passed out 51 assists to go along with 11 digs and equaled a career-high with four blocks against No. 3 Nebraska (9/27).
- Handed out 39 assists while also contributing five kills on a .400 percentage, four digs and three blocks in a win over Pacific (9/20).
- Turned in 52 helpers, 10 digs and four blocks in a win over No. 7 Marquette (9/14/19).
- Totaled 25 assists and was the co-leader on the team with 14 digs at Illinois State (9/13/19).
- Earned her third-straight double-double with 57 assists and a career-high 17 digs to go along with three blocks against No. 16 Washington (9/6/19).
- In her Illini debut over opening weekend, Brown notched back-to-back double-doubles with 65 assists, 15 digs, three kills, three aces and two blocks in a road win at Tennessee (8/30), before posting 42 assists and 11 digs, to go along with four kills and three blocks in UI's home opener vs. Tennessee (9/1).
Freshman - 2018
- Used the season as a redshirt year.
High School
- Earned 2017 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Under Armour Second-Team All-America accolades
- PrepVolleyball.com Senior Ace No. 45
- Two-time Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association (OHSVCA) First-Team All-Ohio honoree
- Earned OHSVCA Second-Team All-Ohio accolades in 2015
- Co-Central Ohio District Player of the Year in 2017 and 2015
- Four-time All-Central District
- Four-time First-Team All-Central Catholic League
- Led her SFDHS team to the State Final Four in 2014, the Final Eight in 2015 and back-to-back Sweet Sixteen appearances in 2016 and 2017
- Three-time Central Catholic League Champions with SFDHS
- Four-year member of the Mintonette Sports National Team, where she led her team to a USAV National Championship in 2013 and a runner-up finish in 2015, earning All-Tournament Team honors along the way
- Four-time honor roll student, two-time National Honor Society honoree and President of National Honor Society in 2017.
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