Illinois volleyball (7-5, 2-1) swept its second-straight Big Ten opponent after traveling to Indiana (11-5, 0-3) on Saturday. The Illini beat the Hoosiers 25-20, 25-13 and 25-19.

“It was a really great team win for us because we really fought for every point,” said junior Megan Cooney. “In past matches, we’ve obviously given our all, but this time we were a level above that. We really went after every single point the entire rally. It’s really hard to do that in Big Ten matches, to stay in every single touch and have every person on the court fully invested. I felt that in every single point of this match, and it was an incredible feeling.”

With their win over the Hoosiers, the Illini have won five of their last six matches and sit in the No. 18 spot, nationally.

Illinois dropped its only match to No. 3 Nebraska during that time but pushed the Cornhuskers to five sets.

Cooney led the Illini to their second Big Ten win with 13 kills. Cooney recorded a .706 hitting percentage, the seventh-best in program history. The junior had only one error and contributed three blocks.

“It’s really special for me to know my teammates have my back and they trust me to go up and take big swings,” Cooney said. “I know they’re behind me if I were to get blocked or they’re ready to cover me and respond. It’s really nice to know that I’m stepping into one of the leadership roles on the team and just hope that as we go forward that continues.”

Senior Ashlyn Fleming was right behind Cooney with 10 kills, hitting .421. The Illini recorded their best hitting percentage of the season last night with .344, their best performance coming in the second set with .462.

The Illini struggled with injuries early on in the nonconference season, but have started to find a consistency in their lineup. With redshirt freshman Diana Brown locked into the setter spot, Auburn transfer Mica Allison has found a different way to contribute.

While Allison’s main position is at setter, the sophomore is well-versed as a hitter. Allison made her Illini debut against Colorado on Sept. 7 with two kills but notched seven against Indiana.

“We knew (Allison) could play multiple positions when she came here,” head coach Chris Tamas said. “We’ve been training her at a lot of positions, and she’s been doing a good job at taking swings for us. We were able to put her out there last match and against Indiana last night.”

With Allison settling in as a hitter, Brown has thrived as the starting setter, notching her seventh double-double of the season with 32 assists and 11 digs.

Focusing on defensive improvement over the past couple weeks, the Illini totalled 45 digs and 11 blocks on Saturday night. Illinois also held Indiana to a .075 hitting percentage.

“It’s an improvement from the whole season,” Tamas said. “We look at from where we are now. Each week we identify an item we’re better at and necessary items we need to get better at. Our focus last week was on our blocking defense, especially because now we’re more consistent with our lineup and able to get to know the ins and outs of our defenders playing together.”

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