No. 20 Illini Sweeps Hawkeyes for First B1G Win
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 20 Illinois volleyball team earned its first sweep of the season as the Illini defeated Iowa, 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-22) on Saturday (September 28) in Huff Hall.
Senior Jacqueline Quade paced the Illini (6-5, 1-1 B1G) with a match-high 14 kills, while senior Ashlyn Fleming and redshirt-freshman Bruna Vrankovic each notched nine kills, with Vrankovic registering a .444 attack clip and Fleming leading the Illini block attack with five stuffs.
Redshirt-freshman Diana Brown had a strong showing on the night, passing out 38 assists en route to leading the Illini to a .303 team hitting percentage to go along with eight digs and six kills on a .385 clip.
Defensively, junior Morgan O’Brien led all players with nine digs on the night as the Illini held the Hawkeyes (7-6, 1-1 B1G) to a .124 team hitting percentage.
The Illini battled through a strong opening push from the Hawkeyes to take the first set, 25-21, before coming out on fire in the second behind a .353 team hitting percentage for a 25-18 set two win. In another back and forth third period, the Illini finished off the 25-22 set win and took the match in three with a final 5-2 run for the victory.
The Illini next return to the road for their first Big Ten Conference road trip, taking on Indiana on Friday (October 4) at 6 p.m. CT in Bloomington, Ind., before facing No. 15 Purdue at 2 p.m. CT on Sunday (October 6) in West Lafayette, Ind., on ESPNU.