Illinois volleyball (12-10, 7-5) finishes off its three-game home stand this Wednesday against the Northwestern Wildcats (11-11, 5-7). The Illini currently sit No. 5 in the conference, while the Wildcats are No. 10 in the conference.
The Illini come into this game as one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten, having won their last five games. Three out of the five games have gone to five sets, and two of the five games have been victories over teams that are above them in the rankings.
The biggest of these wins was the most recent match, where Illinois upset No. 16 Purdue and won in four sets. Senior outside hitter Raina Terry led the Illini in kills with 19 in the match. Terry currently ranks in the top 15 in kills per set, falling in at No. 13 in the nation.
Junior defensive specialist Caroline Barnes led the team in digs, putting up 16 against Purdue. Defensively, the Illini were led by graduate middle blocker Kennedy Collins, who led the team in blocks with nine in the game against the Boilermakers.
These nine blocks put Collins No. 63 in the country in blocks per set. Collins’ ability to block was a big reason that the Illini won against the Boilermakers. The final score for the Illini came off a block delivered by the long-time middle blocker, putting them over the Boilermakers 25-18 on the final set.
Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!
Northwestern comes into this game off a win against Indiana. The Wildcats beat the Hoosiers in five sets, led by sophomore outside hitter Averie Hernandez, who had 21 kills.
Hernandez ended the game second in the team in digs, putting up 14 for the Wildcats. Junior defensive specialist Ellee Stinson was the leader on the team for digs against the Hoosiers, putting up 17 digs in the win.
The junior from Yorktown, Indiana, is in the top 100 digs in the country, ranking No. 97 in the country. Sophomore middle blocker Kennedy Hill was a big help defensively for the Wildcats, putting up 11 blocks against the Hoosiers.
The two programs have met each other in total 95 times. Illinois leads the record against Northwestern 64-31. Illinois head coach Chris Tamas has a record of 8-2 against the Wildcats.
This is the first time either team will have seen each other all season. The last time these two teams faced each other, the Wildcats came out on top over the Illini, winning in straight sets.
The game will be played at Huff Hall, with the first hit occurring at 8 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network. There will be a radio broadcast on WDWS 1400 AM or 93.9 FM. There will also be an audio on fightingillini.com/live.
@EBrewer1172
