The Illinois volleyball team has its middle blockers and defense to thank for the two wins this weekend.

The No. 10 Illini rode strong performances from their middle blockers and block to a sweep of Indiana and a win against No. 13 Purdue, both games at Huff Hall.

Illinois’ two middle blockers carried the Illini offensively Friday against the Hoosiers, winning by scores of 25-18, 25-14 and 25-19. Senior Anna Dorn and sophomore Katie Stadick combined for 16 kills on 22 attempts with no errors.

“Both middles did a really good job of getting up and getting themselves in good spots to get set and put the ball away,” junior setter Alexis Viliunas said.

Dorn and Stadick also contributed eight block assists on the night and led an Illini block that stifled the Hoosier offense. Indiana (13-9, 4-6 Big Ten) finished the match with a .085 hitting percentage, which can partially be attributed to the Illini’s defense.

“We were able to slow them down and contain them by being really aggressive with our block,” Dorn said. “Morganne (Criswell) did a great job with slowing down their slides. Typically in the past, their middles have been really strong so that was one of the things that we really focused on.”

While Illini (16-5, 8-2) got major offensive and defensive contributions from their middle blockers, the team’s primary scorer Jocelynn Birks had a tough night. Birks finished with four kills and four errors on 17 attempts.

After the match, head coach Kevin Hambly said Illinois’ offensive depth allowed Birks to have an off night and the team to still have success.

“When other kids are scoring, it’s nice to not have to rely on her,” Hambly said.

The second match of the weekend brought more of the same as the middle blockers yet again opened up offensive opportunities for the Illini. Illinois topped Purdue by scores of 25-20, 26-24, 26-28 and 26-24.

Criswell, a senior outside hitter, finished the match with a team-high 15 kills, but afterwards both she and fellow senior Liz McMahon credited the attention the Illini’s middle blockers drew for their chances offensively.

“Our middles did a good job early on of establishing themselves, so that definitely opened up some shots for the outsides,” Criswell said.

McMahon, who finished with 12 kills Saturday, along with Criswell, carried the Illini offensively against the Boilermakers (18-4, 8-2) and were influential in helping the Illini win sets two and four after facing set-point.

Both Illinois and Purdue struggled to score points at times throughout the match and Hambly attributed the Illini’s win to the team’s blocks. Illinois recorded 20 blocks over the four sets.

“On either side, team’s weren’t efficient so we were really relying on trying to find ways to score points,” Hambly said. “The block was a thing that was kind of our stable. (The block was) our bread and butter tonight.”

On top of scoring points, Hambly also praised the Illini’s block for slowing down an extremely offensive Purdue team. Purdue had a .056 hitting percentage on the match and no Boilermaker hit over .230.

“We did a nice job on everybody,” Hambly said. “Sometimes we’ll take someone away, but tonight we started taking everyone away. It bodes well for the future. We’re getting better defensively.”

Nicholas can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @IlliniSportsGuy.