The Illinois volleyball team walked off the court at Huff Hall on Sunday afternoon in jubilation after coming away with a 3-1 win against No. 17 Ohio State. With a short week, the Illini will attempt to prolong those feelings on the road against Northwestern on Wednesday. The Illini have won back-to-back games only once this season.
The Illini (8-10, 4-4 Big Ten) are in desperate need of their first sweep in their upcoming pairs of matches. With only 12 matches remaining, Illinois will ideally need to continue its streak of splits while picking up a sweep or two across the next six weeks to ensure a path into the NCAA tournament.
“I like the way we’re playing, I like the direction we’re going, I like the things that are going on,” head coach Kevin Hambly said. “If we don’t get a sweep weekend, then we’re in trouble. We’ve got to find a way to get that done.”
The Wildcats (12-8, 4-4 Big Ten) present a prime opportunity for the Illini to get their first winning streak since the team beat Iowa State and Arizona State in early September. Illinois has been dominant against Northwestern, holding a 50-27 edge in the all-time series. Last season, the Illini swept the Wildcats in a pair of five-set matches, the second of which included a hitting clinic by junior Liz McMahon and sophomore Jocelynn Birks. The two combined for 58 kills, with McMahon contributing to 30 of them, becoming the second player in Illinois’ history to reach that mark since rally scoring was introduced in 2001.
Although Northwestern has been successful at home this year, going 8-2, Illinois has won 21 of 32 in Evanston, Illinois, with its last loss at Welsh-Ryan Arena coming in 2005. Hambly said the Wildcats are different than they have been in the past, when they have been more “middle-dominated team.” Northwestern has become more of a “pin-dominanted team”, Hambly said, after the Wildcats moved middle blocker Katie Dutchman to the right side to increase her attacking.
Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!
“I knew (Northwestern) would be good this year,” McMahon said. “They’ve got a lot of returning players, so they’re going to be strong and are hungry for the tournament.”
The Illini will have four short weeks, with a game on a Wednesday and one either Saturday or Sunday, in their last six weeks of the regular season. Will the new schedule have positive consequences on the team?
“I think it could potentially be (positive),” Hambly said. “It’s also really hard to play during the middle of the week. In the past we’ve taken Monday off and just practiced Tuesday. Now we’re taking Thursday off, which I think will be good for us to get ready on Friday and Saturday for Wisconsin. We’re going to try and make it an advantage.”
Blake can be reached at [email protected].
