Huskies Head To Big Ten Country

Note: season stats are currently inaccurate due to NCAA-wide software issues.

THIS WEEK IN HUSKY VOLLEYBALL

PAC-12/BIG TEN CHALLENGE
IOWA CITY, IOWA • CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6
#16 Washington vs. #5 Illinois • 2 p.m. PT | Live Stats
Colorado at Iowa • 5 p.m. PT • BTN Plus

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
#5 Illinois vs. Colorado • 2 p.m. PT
#16 Washington at Iowa • 5 p.m. PT • BTN Plus | Live Stats | Live Video

SEATTLE - The road continues for the Husky volleyball team as the Huskies move from Hawaii to the Midwest for week two of the season. Washington, now ranked 16th nationally, visits the first of two Big Ten towns on the schedule this month, heading to Iowa City, Iowa for the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge. The Huskies will be facing fifth-ranked Illinois this Friday, Sept. 6, then take on the host Hawkeyes on Saturday, Sept. 7, with Colorado also on hand to rep the Pac-12.

The Huskies are coming off a 2-1 opening weekend in Honolulu, getting wins over St. John's and 21st-ranked San Diego but falling in four sets to a Hawaii team that jumped to No. 20 in the polls this week. Washington had trouble with the block of Hawaii and will be looking for improvement in that area Friday against a top-five squad in the Fighting Illini.

Washington and Illinois play at 2 p.m. Pacific time on Friday and the UW and Iowa meet at 5 p.m. Pacific time on Saturday. The Big Ten Network will provide live web streams this weekend, with a subscription, but only for the two matches involving Iowa.

This is the second year of the current grouping in this Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge. Last season the matches were held in Seattle, with Illinois coming out on top with a 2-0 record, the Huskies and Buffs getting wins over Iowa.

Illinois made the Final Four a season ago, led by then-seniors Jordyn Poulter and Ali Bastianelli. They lost in five sets in the semis to Nebraska to finish 32-4 for the season. This year, Illinois is off to a 2-0 start with two straight 3-2 wins over Tennessee. The first match went all the way to 23-21 in the fifth set. Senior Jacqueline Quade had 31 kills in the first five set win and then 21 in the second. Senior middle Ashlyn Fleming had 28 kills over the two matches and hit just under .400. Redshirt freshman Diana Brown had 65 assists in her debut. Illinois has beaten the Huskies in four sets each of the past two years. UW's one win in the series came back in 2013.

The Hawkeyes are off to a 3-0 start highlighted by a sweep of then-No. 22 Washington State last weekend at a tournament hosted by James Madison in Virginia. They also beat Stony Brook in four sets and swept JMU. Last season, Iowa went 15-16 overall and 7-13 in Big Ten play but five of its losses came in fifth sets. Senior Meghan Buzzerio leads the team thus far with 4.00 kills per set and is hitting .374. Junior Griere Hughes is also hitting .404, as Iowa hit .331 over its first three matches. Junior setter Brie Orr ranks seventh in Iowa history with 2,541 career assists. Iowa is led by interim Head Coach Vicki Brown.

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