The Illinois volleyball team hopes to turn things around Saturday in Bloomington against an Indiana team that’s on a similar path.

Illinois, who lost to No. 17 Purdue in three games on Wednesday night in West Lafayette, Ind., is now 2-7 in conference play and has lost six of its last seven games.

Indiana is on a skid of its own, losing six matches in a row since its lone conference win against Michigan at home on Sept. 24.

Last season, the Illini easily took care of Indiana, winning both matches in three games each. Illinois has not lost a match against the Hoosiers since 2002, winning seven of its last eight and 34 of the last 40 meetings with Indiana.

Although Illinois holds a commanding lead in the all-time series, head coach Don Hardin said he is not expecting a win going into the weekend.

“I think it’s a big question mark if we can win on the road this weekend,” Hardin said. “I don’t think it’s a given at all. I think it’s a huge question to ask: Can our players dig in and everyone perform enough to pull out a win? I think it’d be huge if we could do it.”

Freshman setter Lizzie Bazzetta, who got her first Big Ten start just two weeks ago, recorded a double-double against Purdue on Wednesday and is looking keep up her strong play this weekend against Indiana. Hardin said it was just a matter of time until Bazzetta showed why she was made a starter as a freshman.

“Lizzie is an exceptional defensive player, but as she took over the reigns of being the starting setter, it’s distracted the defense to some degree,” Hardin said. “Now she’s back on defense, and she’s getting back to what she’s capable of doing on defense.”

The main thing Illinois hopes to shut down this weekend is Indiana’s blocking.

The Hoosiers come into Saturday’s match having made a name for itself this year in blocking, ranking 16th in the nation with 3.21 blocks per game. Leading the way for Indiana is senior middle blocker Mandy Eberle who ranks 23rd in the country with 1.47 blocks per game.

Illinois has played well against top-ranked blocking teams and hopes to continue this trend.

On Sept. 23, Illinois out-blocked a Penn State team ranked 12th in that category. Although they aren’t among the best, the Illini have out-blocked Big Ten opponents 83-76 thus far in conference play.

Even though Illinois has played well against top-ranked blocking teams in the past, Hardin said the Illini will need more than that to come back home a winner.

“It’s all going to come down to emotion and the attitude of the players,” Hardin said. “I’m worried about them because they’ve been through a lot, and they’re working their way out of it. We’re going to have to have all players contributing if we want to win.”