Match Stats
- #22 Illinois def. Indiana 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-20)
- Illinois moves to 14-6 (7-2 Big Ten); Indiana falls to 13-9 (2-7 Big Ten)
- Huff Hall, Champaign, Illinois (Illinois hosted)
Press Releases
Courtesy Illinois Athletics:
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 22 Fighting Illini volleyball earned their third-straight Big Ten Conference sweep as Illinois defeated Indiana, 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-20), on Friday (Oct. 21) night in Huff Hall.
With the win, the Illini improve to 14-6 and 7-2 in the conference, while the Hoosiers fall to 13-9 and 2-7 in the league.
“We passed the way we wanted to, and moved the way we wanted to,” said head coach Kevin Hambly. “It allowed Jordyn to run the offense. We got her heavily involved, and you can see the balance that we were able to have with her passing; [Our middles] Katie had 16 and Ali getting 15. We really spread it around and that is how we want to play.”
“We stayed in the moment. We were very business like. We did not try to do too much. We just stayed within ourselves, and played a really good volleyball match against a good team.”
The Illini used a balanced offense, with five players posting six or more kills in the win. Freshman Jacqueline Quade paced the team with nine kills on 18 attacks and only one error for a .444 hitting percentage, while senior Naya Crittenden totaled eight kills on 16 swings and only three errors for a .300 clip.
Freshman Caroline Welsh, who registered a season-high five service aces in the match, used a strong serving game to get the Illini off to a quick start with back-to-back aces to open the first set en route to building a 4-1 lead. The Hoosiers fought back to tie the score at 5-5 as the two teams went back-and forth, with seven ties and two lead changes throughout the first. With the score tie at 15-15, the Illini took control of the stanza with four-straight points as the Orange and Blue finished on a 10-3 run to close out the set.
IU bounced back to lead early in the second at 4-2, but the Illini responded with a 9-3 run to jump ahead at 11-7. The Hoosiers then scored the next three of four points to close within 12-10, but that would be as close as they would get for the remainder of the period. Three-straight points on back-to-back kills from Quade and senior Katie Stadick, followed by a IU hitting error gave the Illini a 21-16 advantage as the home team sailed to a 25-19 set win, capped by a kill from sophomore Ali Bastianelli.
Illinois continued its momentum in the third as the Orange & Blue scored the first four points of the set and built a 5-1 lead that they would never relinquish. A Stadick kill pushed the edge to 11-4, before another Welsh service ace made it 14-7 midway through the set. With the Illini leading 21-17, the two teams traded points before Quade finished things off with a kill – with the majority of the set’s drama coming on that final point as the officials ruled that IU touched the ball on Quade’s attack. Following the review, the call was upheld and the Illini earned the sweep.
As a team, the Illini turned in a .277 hitting percentage, while holding the Hoosiers to a .148 clip. Sophomore Jordyn Poulter led the Orange and Blue with 35 assists and three blocks.
Seniors Katie Stadick and Michelle Strizak also posted seven kills each, with Stadick leading the way with four blocks on the night.
Defensively, junior Brandi Donnelly registered a match-high 16 digs, with Strizak adding nine digs in the win.
The Illini have a quick turnaround as they welcome in No. 24 Purdue on Saturday (Oct. 22) night at 7 p.m. CT in Huff Hall. Tomorrow’s match marks the annual Pink Night for the Illini and all fans are encouraged to wear pink.
Courtesy Indiana Athletics:
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana volleyball team is back on the road this week as they travel to No. 22 Illinois on Friday Oct. 21 for an 8:00 p.m. ET match and are at Northwestern on Sunday Oct. 23 at 4:00 p.m. ET. The match on Sunday will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.
Lebo Reaches 1K Digs
On Saturday Oct. 15 against Penn State, senior Taylor Lebo became the 13th player in program history to reach 1,000 career digs. Lebo, who has reached double digit digs in 13 matches this season, currently ranks 12th in school history in career digs with 1,003. She is 10 digs away from moving into 11th and 25 digs from cracking the top-10 in school history for career digs. Lebo leads the Hoosiers with 245 digs on the season and is already nearing her total from last season of 269 digs.
Additional Milestones
Also against Penn State, senior Allison Hammond reached her 300th career dig. Hammond, who leads the Hoosiers in kills this season with 242, is 14 kills away from 600 for her career. Hammond is currently seventh in the Big Ten in kills at 3.78 per set. Hammond is on pace to crush her total kills from last season. In the 2015 season Hammond recorded 251 kills and she already has 242 this season.
Last Time Against Northwestern
The Wildcats are the first Big Ten opponent the Hoosiers will play for a second time this season. In the last meeting, in Bloomington on September 24, the Hoosiers secured a 3-0 victory. Freshman Hayden Huybers hit a perfect hitting percentage with 10 kills on 10 attempts in the match. She became the first Hoosiers to achieve that feat since Samantha Thrower in 2011, who connected on 15 kills on 15 swings.
Follow the Hoosiers on Social Media
Facebook: Indiana Volleyball
Twitter/Instagram: @IUVolleyball
Snapchat: IUVB_Hoosiers
Watch IU Volleyball on BTN2GO and Big Ten Network
The Hoosiers match on Friday against Illinois will be available via BTN Plus via BTN2GO. On Sunday the Hoosiers match will be nationally televised live on Big Ten Network.
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