MATCH STATS
- (RV) Illinois def. #6 Minnesota, 3-1 (27-29, 25-19, 25-18, 25-20)
- Illinois improves to 19-10, 10-8 Big Ten; Minnesota falls to 25-4, 14-4 Big Ten
- Champaign, Illinois
- Attendance: 2218
- Box score
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – (RV) Illinois finally got the signature win it needed, upsetting #6 Minnesota, 3-1 (27-29, 25-19, 25-18, 25-20). Minnesota (RPI: 4) is the highest RPI ranked team the Illini have defeated this season. The previous high was against Western Kentucky (RPI: 32) on September 2. The win also halted a three-match losing streak for Illinois.
Illinois was led by their outside hitters. Sophomore outside Jacqueline Quade had a match-high 21 kills while adding 10 digs for her double-double. She hit .400 (21-3-45) against Minnesota with 2 blocks. Redshirt sophomore outside Beth Prince finished with 19 kills. Junior setter Jordyn Poulter was one kill shy of a triple-double, distributing 50 assists, digging 17 balls and earning 9 kills on 12 errorless swings. Poulter also blocked a match-high tying 5 balls. Junior middle blocker Ali Bastianelli pounded 8 balls on 18 swings without an error to finish hitting .444. She matched Poulter for match-high honors in blocking with 5. Senior libero Brandi Donnelly had career-highs in digs (32) and assists (10) to contribute a double-double. It was the first time in her career that Donnelly had broken the 30 digs barrier.
Minnesota was led offensively by freshman opposite Stephanie Samedy with a team-high 16 kills and added 15 digs for her double-double. Sophomore outside hitter Alexis Hart had 15 kills. Senior middle blocker Molly Lohman pounded 12 kills and hit a team-high .500 to go along with her match-high 3 aces against the Illini. Junior setter Samantha Seliger-Swenson filled the stat sheet with 45 assists, 17 digs, 2 kills, a block and an ace.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy of Illinois Athletics
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – With contributions coming from every position on the court, the Fighting Illini volleyball team earned a 3-1 (27-29, 25-19, 25-18, 25-20) upset victory over No. 7 Minnesota on Saturday (November 18) night in Huff Hall.
It was the first win over Minnesota for the Illini (19-10, 10-8) since since a sweep in Huff Hall on October 1, 2014, while the No. 7 Gophers (25-4, 14-4) are the highest ranked opponent UI has beaten since defeating No. 5 Penn State in Rec Hall in 2014 as well.
Junior Jordyn Poulter was the catalyst for the Illini and came within one kill of the program’s 13th triple-double with 50 assists, 17 digs and nine kills on a .750 hitting percentage, while also adding a match-high five blocks in the win. It was her 20th career double-double and 10th of the season. Poulter also quarterbacked the Illini offense to a .333 hitting percentage, including hitting over the .300 mark in all four sets on the night.
Sophomore Jacqueline Quade also turned in her fourth career double-double and third of the season with a match-high 21 kills on a .400 hitting percentage to go along with 10 digs, while redshirt-sophomore Beth Prince joined her in double figures with 19 kills.
Senior Brandi Donnelly also had a big night after collecting her first double-double of her four-year career with a career-high 32 digs – her first-ever 30 dig performance – and a career-high 10 assists.
At the net, the Illini out-blocked the Gophers, 10 to three, with junior Ali Bastianelli also posting a match-high five blocks.
Following an early 6-6 tie, the Gophers put together six-straight points to take a 12-6 lead in the opening set. The Illini answered back with a 10-4 run of their own as a Prince kill knotted the score at 16-16. From there the two teams traded points until back-to-back Gopher points gave the visitors their first set point at 24-22. The Illini battled back with a Poulter and Bastianelli block followed by a Prince kill to tie things at 24-24 and would go on to fight off five set points until back-to-back Alexis Hart kills sealed the first for the Gophers at 29-27.
A 7-0 run from the Illini broke a 6-6 tie early in the second stanza as a kill from freshman Tyanna Omazicmade it 13-6. After three-straight points from the Gophers cut the lead to 13-9, the Illini used three-straight points of their own to push the edge back to six at 20-14. The two teams then traded points before a Poulter kill tied the match at 1-1 with the 25-19 set win for the Illini.
It was a back-and-forth beginning to the fourth until the Gophers jumped ahead by three at 12-9 on a Molly Lohman kill. The Illini answered back with a 7-1 run to pull ahead at 16-13 – capped by a Prince kill. After the Gophers pulled within two at 17-15, UI strung together three-straight kills from Prince, Quade and Omazic for the 20-15 advantage. Another three unanswered points – including back-to-back kills from freshman Megan Cooney – put the Illini up big at 23-16, before a Bastianelli kill finished off the set at 25-18.
Feeding off the momentum of the third set, the Illini grabbed an early 9-5 advantage on three-straight points. UM responded with three-straight kills of its own to pull within one at 9-8, but again the Illini used a 4-0 run to build a 13-8 edge. With the Illini continuing to hold their advantage, the Gophers fought back to cut the lead to one at 19-18. The Illini then finished off the Gophers with a 6-2 run to end the set and earn the 3-1 victory.
Courtesy of Minnesota Athletics
The No. 7 University of Minnesota volleyball team fell in four to Illinois, 29-27, 19-25, 18-25, 20-25. With the loss, the Golden Gophers drop to 25-4 overall and 14-4 in the Big Ten.
Minnesota was led by Stephanie Samedy, who had 16 kills and 15 digs, followed by Alexis Hart with 15 kills and Molly Lohman with 12 kills (hit .500). Samantha Seliger-Swenson had 45 assists and a team-high 17 digs, while Dalianliz Rosado had 13 digs and six assists.
Illinois hit .333 to Minnesota’s .190 and held a 71-57 kill advantage. The Illini also had 10 blocks to Minnesota’s three.
Set Breakdown:
First Set: The Gophers took the first set, 29-27. Minnesota opened the first set with an 11-6 lead as Illinois called a timeout. The Gophers were on a 5-0 run before the Illini called a timeout, all during a Lauren Barnesserve rotation. Illinois responded and eventually tied the set at the 16-16 mark. The two teams traded points through 19-19 before Minnesota took a narrow 21-19 lead. However, Illinois came back and tied the set at 21 as Minnesota used its first timeout. Minnesota took a 24-22 lead off Lohman’s second ace of the set as Illinois called a timeout. The Illini came out of the break and tied the set at 24-24 as Minnesota called a timeout. The two teams tied through 27 before Minnesota had two kills from Hart for a 1-0 lead.
Second Set: The Illini hit .351 in the second and went on a 6-0 run en route to a 25-19 set win. Illinois opened the second set with a 10-6 lead, which forced Minnesota to call a timeout. Illinois, however, came out of the break and cushioned its lead to 13-6 as the Gophers called another timeout. Minnesota strung together three-straight as Illinois called a timeout at 13-9. After Illinois led, 16-11, Lohman delivered an ace at 14-17. Brittany McLean added a kill to put the score at 16-21. Lohman added a kill at the 18-22 mark, but the Illini closed out the set with a 3-1 run to tie the match, 1-1.
Third Set: Illinois took a 2-1 lead off a 25-18 set win. Minnesota took an 11-8 lead off a Hart kill, and later took a 13-10 lead off a Samedy kill. However, Illinois tied the set at 13-13 off an ace as the Gophers called the set’s first timeout. Illinois continued its run off and later took a 16-13 lead. Illinois later took a 19-15 lead as the Gophers called their second timeout. Illinois later took a 22-16 lead off a kill and finished off the set with a 3-2 run for a 2-1 lead.
Fourth Set: Illinois jumped out to an 8-5 lead as the Gophers called a timeout. Minnesota closed the gap to 8-9 before Illinois took a 13-8 lead. Minnesota pushed back and cut the lead to 11-13, but Illinois earned a sideout and added a block for a 14-11 lead. Lohman later added a kill as the Gophers trailed, 13-16. Minnesota went on a 3-0 run to pull within one at 17-16 as Illinois called a timeout. Illinois responded out of the break and took a 21-18 lead off a block as the Gophers called a timeout. The Gophers couldn’t recover as Illinois closed out the match with a on a 3-0 run and took the match, 3-1.
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